LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 


Frank  R.  Stockton 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 


BY 
FRANK  R.    STOCKTON 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1909 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


DAVIS 


COPYRIGHT,  1886,  1899. 1908.  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Frank  R.  Stockton  ........     Frontispiece 

From  a  portrait  by  Mrs.  Dora  Wheeler  Keith 


FACING 
PAGE 


I  was  about  to  introduce  you  to  my  cousin"  .     . 


"Is  it  possible  that  this  is  the  rather  pale  young 
girl  in  black  who  gave  me  change  ?"    ....     29° 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 


CHAPTER  I 

fTTEERE  was  a  wide  entrance-gate  to  the  old  family 
JL  mansion  of  Midbranch,  but  it  was  never  opened 
to  admit  the  family  or  visitors ;  although  occasionally 
a  load  of  wood,  drawn  by  two  horses  and  two  mules, 
came  between  its  tall  chestnut  posts,  and  was  taken  by 
a  roundabout  way  among  the  trees  to  a  spot  at  the  back 
of  the  house,  where  the  chips  of  several  generations 
of  sturdy  wood- choppers  had  formed  a  ligneous  soil 
deeper  than  the  arable  surface  of  any  portion  of  the 
nine  hundred  and  fifty  acres  which  formed  the  farm 
of  Midbranch.  This  seldom-opened  gate  was  in  a 
corner  of  the  lawn,  and  the  driving  of  carriages,  or 
the  riding  of  horses  through  it  to  the  porch  at  the 
front  of  the  house  would  have  been  the  ruin  of  the 
short,  thick  grass  which  had  covered  that  lawn,  it  was 
generally  believed,  ever  since  Virginia  became  a  State. 
But  there  had  to  be  some  way  for  people  who  came 
in  carriages  or  on  horseback  to  get  into  the  house,  and 
therefore  the  fence  at  the  bottom  of  the  lawn,  at  a 
point  directly  in  front  of  the  porch,  was  crossed  by  a 
set  of  broad  wooden  steps,  five  outside  and  five  inside, 
with  a  platform  at  the  top.  These  stairs  were  wide 

3 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

enough  to  accommodate  eight  people  abreast ;  so  that 
if  a  large  carriage-load  of  visitors  arrived,  none  of  them 
need  delay  in  crossing  the  fence.  At  the  outside  of  the 
steps  ran  the  narrow  road  which  entered  the  planta 
tion  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  and  passed  around  the 
lawn  and  the  garden  to  the  barns  and  stables  at  the 
back. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  road,  undivided  from  it  by 
hedge  or  fence,  stretched,  like  a  sea  gently  moved  by  a 
ground-swell,  a  vast  field,  sometimes  planted  in  tobacco, 
and  sometimes  in  wheat.  In  the  midst  of  this  field 
stood  a  tall  persimmon-tree  which  yearly  dropped  its 
half-candied  fruit  upon  the  first  light  snow  of  the 
winter.  It  is  true  that  persimmons,  quite  fit  to  eat, 
were  to  be  found  on  this  tree  at  an  earlier  period  than 
this,  but  such  fruit  was  never  noticed  by  the  people  in 
those  parts,  who  would  not  rudely  wrench  from  Jack 
Frost  his  one  little  claim  to  rivalry  with  the  sun  as  a 
fruit-ripener.  To  the  right  of  the  field  was  a  wide 
extent  of  pasture-land,  running  down  to  a  small  stream, 
or  "  branch,"  which,  flowing  between  two  other  streams 
of  the  same  kind  a  mile  or  two  on  either  side  of  it,  had 
given  its  name  to  the  place.  In  front,  to  the  left,  lay  a 
great  forest  of  chestnut,  oak,  sassafras,  and  sweet-gum, 
with  here  and  there  a  clump  of  tall  pines,  standing  up 
straight  and  stiff  with  an  air  of  Puritanic  condemnation 
of  the  changing  fashions  of  the  foliage  about  them. 

On  one  side  of  the  platform  of  the  broad  stile,  which 
has  been  mentioned,  sat,  one  summer  afternoon,  the 
lady  of  the  house.  She  was  a  young  woman,  and  al 
though  her  face  was  a  good  deal  shadowed  by  her  far- 
spreading  hat,  it  was  easy  to  perceive  that  she  was 
a  handsome  one.  She  was  the  niece  of  Mr.  Eobert 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Brandon,  the  elderly  bachelor  who  owned  Midbranch, 
and  her  mother,  long  since  dead,  had  called  her  Ro 
berta,  which  was  as  near  as  she  could  come  to  the  name 
of  her  only  brother. 

Miss  Roberta's  father  was  a  man  whose  mind  and 
time  were  entirely  given  up  to  railroads  j  and  although 
he  nominally  lived  in  New  York,  he  was,  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  year,  engaged  in  endeavors  to  for 
ward  his  interests  somewhere  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
Two  or  three  months  of  the  winter  were  generally 
spent  in  his  city  home.  At  these  times  he  had  his 
daughter  with  him,  but  the  rest  of  the  year  she  lived 
with  her  uncle,  whose  household  she  directed  with 
much  good  will  and  judgment.  The  old  gentleman 
did  not  keep  her  all  the  summer  at  Midbranch.  He 
knew  what  was  necessary  for  a  young  lady  who  had 
been  educated  in  Germany  and  Switzerland,  and  who 
had  afterwards  made  a  very  favorable  impression  in 
Paris  and  London ;  and  so,  during  the  hot  weather,  he 
took  her  with  him  to  one  of  the  fashionable  Southern 
resorts,  where  they  always  stayed  exactly  six  weeks. 

The  gentleman  who  was  sitting  on  the  other  side  of 
the  platform,  with  his  face  turned  towards  her,  had 
known  Miss  Roberta  for  a  year  or  more,  having  met 
her  at  the  North,  and  also  in  the  Virginia  mountains  j 
and  being  now  on  a  visit  to  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs, 
about  four  miles  from  Midbranch,  he  rode  over  to  see 
her  nearly  every  day.  There  was  nothing  surprising 
in  this,  because  the  Green  Sulphur,  once  a  much- 
frequented  resort,  had  seen  great  changes,  and  now, 
although  the  end  of  the  regular  season  had  not  ar 
rived,  it  had  Mr.  Lawrence  Croft  for  its  only  guest. 
There  was  a  spacious  hotel  there  j  there  was  a  village 

5 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

of  cottages  of  varying  sizes ;  there  were  buildings  for 
servants  and  managers ;  there  was  a  tenpin-alley  and 
a  quoit-ground ;  there  were  arbors  and  swings ;  and  a 
square  hole  in  a  stone  slab,  through  which  a  little  pool 
of  greenish  water  could  be  seen,  with  a  tin  cup,  some 
what  rusty,  lying  by  it.  But  all  was  quiet  and  de 
serted,  except  one  cottage,  in  which  the  man  lived  who 
had  charge  of  the  place,  and  where  Mr.  Croft  boarded. 
It  was  very  pleasant  for  him  to  ride  over  to  Midbranch 
and  take  a  walk  with  Miss  Roberta ;  and  this  was  what 
they  had  been  doing  to-day. 

Horseback  rides  had  been  suggested,  but  Mr.  Bran 
don  objected  to  these.  He  knew  Mr.  Croft  to  be  a 
young  man  of  good  family  and  very  comfortable  for 
tune,  and  he  liked  him  very  much  when  he  had  him 
there  to  dinner,  but  he  did  not  wish  his  niece  to  go 
galloping  around  the  country  with  him.  To  quiet 
walks  in  the  woods,  and  through  the  meadows,  he 
could,  of  course,  have  no  objection.  A  good  many  of 
Mr.  Brandon's  principles,  like  certain  of  his  books, 
were  kept  upon  a  top  shelf,  but  Miss  Roberta  always 
liked  to  humor  the  few  which  the  old  gentleman  was 
wont  to  have  within  easy  reach. 

This  afternoon  they  had  rambled  through  the  woods, 
where  the  hard,  smooth  road  wound  picturesquely 
through  the  places  in  which  it  had  been  easiest  to 
make  a  road,  and  where  the  great  trunks  of  the  trees 
were  partly  covered  by  clinging  vines,  which  Miss 
Roberta  knew  to  be  either  Virginia  creeper  or 
poison-oak,  although  she  did  not  remember  which 
of  these  had  clusters  of  five  leaves,  and  which  of 
three. 

The  horse  on  which  Mr.  Croft  had  ridden  over  from 

6 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

the  Springs  was  tied  to  a  fence  near  by,  and  he  now 
seemed  to  indicate  by  his  restless  movements  that  it 
was  quite  time  for  the  gentleman  to  go  home  ;  but  with 
this  opinion  Mr.  Croft  decidedly  differed.  He  had  had 
a  long  walk  with  the  lady,  and  plenty  of  opportunities 
to  say  anything  that  he  might  choose,  but  still  there 
was  something  very  important  which  had  not  been  said, 
and  which  Mr.  Croft  very  much  wished  to  say  before 
he  left  Miss  Roberta  that  afternoon.  His  only  reason 
for  hesitation  was  the  fact  that  he  did  not  know  what 
he  wished  to  say. 

He  was  a  man  who  always  kept  a  lookout  on  the 
bows  of  his  daily  action ;  in  storm  or  in  calm,  in  fog  or 
in  bright  sunshine,  that  lookout  must  be  at  his  post ; 
and  upon  his  reports  it  depended  whether  Mr.  Croft 
set  more  sail,  put  on  more  steam,  reversed  his  engine, 
or  anchored  his  vessel.  A  report  from  this  lookout 
was  what  he  hoped  to  elicit  by  the  remark  which  he 
wished  to  make.  He  desired  greatly  to  know  whether 
Miss  Roberta  March  looked  upon  him  in  the  light  of  a 
lover,  or  in  that  of  an  intimate  acquaintance,  whose 
present  intimacy  depended  a  good  deal  upon  the 
propinquity  of  Midbranch  and  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs.  He  had  endeavored  to  produce  upon  her 
mind  the  latter  impression.  If  he  ever  wished  her  to 
regard  him  as  a  lover  he  could  do  this  in  the  easiest 
and  most  straightforward  way,  but  the  other  procedure 
was  much  more  difficult,  and  he  was  not  certain  that 
he  had  succeeded  in  it.  How  to  find  out  in  what  light 
she  viewed  him  without  allowing  the  lady  to  perceive 
his  purpose  was  a  very  delicate  operation. 

"  I  wish,"  said  Miss  Roberta,  poking  with  the  end  of 
her  parasol  at  some  half- withered  wild  flowers  which 

7 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

lay  on  the  steps  beneath  her,  "  that  you  would  change 
your  mind,  and  take  supper  with  us." 

Mr.  Croft's  mind  was  very  busy  endeavoring  to 
think  of  some  casual  remark,  some  observation  regard 
ing  man,  nature,  or  society,  or  even  an  anecdote  or 
historical  incident,  which,  if  brought  into  the  con 
versation,  might  produce  upon  the  lady's  countenance 
some  shade  of  expression,  or  some  variation  in  her 
tone  or  words,  which  would  give  him  the  information 
he  sought  for.  But  what  he  said  was :  "  Are  they 
really  suppers  that  you  have,  or  are  they  only  teas?" 

"  Now  I  know,"  said  the  lady,  "  why  you  have  some 
times  taken  dinner  with  us,  but  never  supper.  You 
were  afraid  that  it  would  be  a  tea." 

Lawrence  Croft  was  thinking  that  if  this  girl  be 
lieved  that  he  was  in  love  with  her,  it  would  make  a 
great  deal  of  difference  in  his  present  course  of  action. 
If  such  were  the  case,  he  ought  not  to  come  here  so 
often,  or,  in  fact,  he  ought  not  to  come  at  all,  until  he 
had  decided  for  himself  what  he  was  going  to  do.  But 
what  could  he  say  that  would  cause  her,  for  the  brief 
est  moment,  to  unveil  her  idea  of  himself.  "  I  never 
could  endure,"  he  said,  "  those  meals  which  consist  of 
thin  shavings  of  bread  with  thick  plasters  of  butter, 
aided  and  abetted  by  sweet  cakes,  preserves,  and  tea." 

"  You  should  have  reserved  those  remarks,"  she  said, 
«  until  you  had  found  out  what  sort  of  evening  meal 
we  have." 

He  could  certainly  say  something,  he  thought. 
Perhaps  it  might  be  some  little  fanciful  story  which 
would  call  up  in  her  mind,  without  his  appearing  to 
intend  it,  some  thought  of  his  relationship  to  her  as  a 
lover— that  is,  if  she  had  ever  had  such  a  notion.  If 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

this  could  be  done,  her  face  would  betray  the  fact. 
But,  not  being  ready  to  make  such  a  remark,  he  said : 
"  I  beg  your  pardon,  but  do  you  really  have  suppers  in 
the  English  fashion?" 

"  Oh,  no,"  answered  Miss  Roberta,  "  we  don't  have  a 
great  cold  joint,  with  old  cheese,  and  pitchers  of  brown 
stout  and  ale,  but  neither  do  we  content  ourselves  with 
thin  bread  and  butter,  and  preserves.  We  have  coffee 
as  well  as  tea,  hot  rolls,  fleecy  and  light,  hot  batter 
bread  made  of  our  finest  corn  meal,  hot  biscuits  and 
stewed  fruit,  with  plenty  of  sweet  milk  and  buttermilk  ; 
and,  if  anybody  wants  it,  he  can  always  have  a  slice 
of  cold  ham." 

"  If  I  could  only  feel  sure,"  thought  Mr.  Croft,  "  that 
she  looked  upon  me  merely  as  an  acquaintance,  I  would 
cease  to  trouble  my  mind  on  this  subject,  and  let  every 
thing  go  on  as  before.  But  I  am  not  sure,  and  I  would 
rather  not  come  here  again  until  I  am."  "And  at 
what  hour,"  he  asked,  "  do  you  partake  of  a  meal  like 
that?" 

"In  summer-time,"  said  Miss  Eoberta,  "we  have 
supper  when  it  is  dark  enough  to  light  the  lamps.  My 
uncle  dislikes  very  much  to  be  deprived,  by  the  advent 
of  a  meal,  of  the  outdoor  enjoyment  of  a  late  after 
noon,  or,  as  we  call  it  down  here,  the  evening." 

"  It  would  be  easy  enough,"  thought  Mr.  Croft,  "  for 
me  to  say  something  about  my  being  suddenly  obliged 
to  go  away,  and  then  notice  its  effect  upon  her.  But, 
apart  from  the  fact  that  I  would  not  do  anything  so 
vulgar  and  commonplace,  it  would  not  advantage  me 
in  the  slightest  degree.  She  would  see  through  the 
flimsiness  of  my  purpose,  and,  no  matter  how  she 
looked  upon  me,  would  show  nothing  but  a  well-bred 

9 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

regret  that  I  should  be  obliged  to  go  away  at  such  a 
pleasant  season."  "  I  think  the  hour  for  your  supper," 
said  he,  "is  a  very  suitable  one,  but  I  am  not  sure 
that  such  a  variety  of  hot  bread  would  agree  with 
me." 

"  Did  you  ever  see  more  healthy -looking  ladies  and 
gentlemen  than  you  find  in  Virginia?"  asked  Miss 
March. 

"  It  is  not  that  I  want  to  know  if  she  looks  favorably 
upon  me,"  said  Lawrence  Croft  to  himself,  "  for  when 
I  wish  to  discover  that,  I  shall  simply  ask  her.  What 
I  wish  now  to  know  is  whether  or  not  she  considers 
me  at  all  as  a  lover.  There  surely  must  be  something 
I  can  say  which  will  give  me  a  clew."  "  The  Vir 
ginians,  as  a  rule,"  he  replied,  "are  certainly  a  very 
well-grown  and  vigorous  race." 

"  In  spite  of  the  hot  bread,"  she  said  with  a  smile. 

Just  then  Mr.  Croft  believed  himself  struck  by  a 
happy  thought.  "  You  are  not  prepared,  I  suppose, 
to  say,  in  consequence  of  it ;  and  that  recalls  the  fact 
that  so  much  in  this  world  happens  in  spite  of  things, 
instead  of  in  consequence  of  them." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  exactly  understand,"  said  Miss 
Eoberta. 

"Well,  for  instance,"  said  Mr.  Croft,  "take  the  case 
of  marriage.  Don't  you  think  that  a  man  is  more  apt 
to  marry  in  spite  of  his  belief  that  he  would  be  much 
better  off  as  a  bachelor,  than  in  consequence  of  a 
conviction  that  a  benedict's  life  would  suit  him 
better?" 

"That,"  said  she,  "depends  a  good  deal  on  the 
woman." 

As  she  said  this  Lawrence  glanced  quickly  at  her  to 
10 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

observe  the  expression  of  her  countenance.  The  coun 
tenance  plainly  indicated  that  its  owner  had  suddenly 
been  made  aware  that  the  afternoon  was  slipping 
away,  and  that  she  had  forgotten  certain  household 
duties  that  devolved  upon  her. 

"  Here  comes  Peggy,"  she  said,  "  and  I  must  go  into 
the  house  and  give  out  supper.  Don't  you  now  think 
it  would  be  well  for  you  to  follow  our  discussion  of  a 
Virginia  supper  by  eating  one  $  "  ^ 

At  this  moment  there  arrived  at  the  bottom  of  the 
inside  steps  a  small  girl,  very  black,  very  solemn,  and 
very  erect,  with  her  hands  folded  in  front  of  her  very 
straight  up-and-down  calico  frock,  her  features  ex 
pressive  of  a  wooden  stolidity  which  nothing  but  a 
hammer  or  chisel  could  alter,  and  with  large  eyes  fixed 
upon  a  far-away,  which,  apparently,  had  disappeared, 
leaving  the  eyes  in  a  condition  of  idle  outgo. 

"  Miss  Rob,"  said  this  wooden  Peggy,  "  Aun>  Judy 
says  it's  more'n  time  to  come  housekeep." 

"  Which  means,"  said  Miss  Roberta,  rising,  "  that  I 
must  go  and  get  my  key-basket,  and  descend  into  the 
store-room.  Won't  you  come  in  f  We  shall  find  uncle 
on  the  back  porch." 

Mr.  Croft  declined  with  thanks,  and  took  his  leave, 
and  the  lady  walked  across  the  smooth  grass  to  the 
house,  followed  by  the  rigid  Peggy. 

The  young  man  approached  his  impatient  horse,  and, 
not  without  some  difficulty,  got  himself  mounted.  He 
had  not  that  facility  of  sympathetically  combining 
his  own  will  and  that  of  his  horse  which  comes  to  men 
who,  from  their  early  boyhood,  are  wont  to  consider 
horses  as  objects  quite  as  necessary  to  locomotion  as 
shoes  and  stockings.  But  Lawrence  Croft  was  a  fair 

11 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

graduate  of  a  riding-school,  and  he  went  away  in  very 
good  style  to  his  cottage  at  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs. 
"I  believe,"  he  said  to  himself  as  he  rode  through 
the  woods,  "  that  Miss  March  expects  no  more  of  me 
than  she  would  expect  of  any  very  intimate  friend.  I 
shall  feel  perfectly  free,  therefore,  to  continue  my  in 
vestigations  regarding  two  points  :  First,  is  she  worth 
having?  Second,  will  she  have  me?  And  I  must  be 
very  careful  not  to  get  the  position  of  these  points 
reversed." 

When  Miss  Koberta  went  into  the  store-room,  it 
was  Peggy  who,  under  the  supervision  of  her  mistress, 
measured  out  the  fine  white  flour  for  the  biscuits  for 
supper.  Peggy  was  being  educated  to  do  these  things 
properly,  and  she  knew  exactly  how  many  times  the 
tin  scoop  must  fill  itself  in  the  barrel  for  the  ordinary 
needs  of  the  family.  Miss  Roberta  stood,  her  eyes 
contemplatively  raised  to  the  narrow  window,  through 
which  she  could  see  a  flush  of  sunset  mingling  itself 
with  the  outer  air ;  and  Peggy  scooped  once,  twice, 
thrice,  four  times  j  then  she  stopped,  and,  raising  her 
head,  there  came  into  the  far-away  gloom  of  her  eyes 
a  quick  sparkle  like  a  flash  of  black  lightning.  She 
made  another  and  entirely  supplementary  scoop,  and 
then  she  stopped,  and  let  the  tin  utensil  fall  into  the 
barrel  with  a  gentle  thud. 

"That  will  do,"  said  Miss  Eoberta. 

That  night,  when  she  should  have  been  in  her  bed, 
Peggy  sat  alone  by  the  hearth  in  Aunt  Judy's  cabin, 
baking  a  cake.  It  was  a  peculiar  cake,  for  she  could 
get  no  sugar  for  it,  but  she  had  supplied  this  deficiency 
with  molasses.  It  was  made  of  Miss  Roberta's  finest 
white  flour,  and  there  were  eggs  in  it  and  butter,  and 

12 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

it  contained,  besides,  three  raisins,  an  olive,  and  a 
prune.  When  the  outside  of  the  cake  had  been  suffi 
ciently  baked,  and  every  portion  of  it  had  been  scru 
pulously  eaten,  the  good  little  Peggy  murmured  to 
herself:  "It's  pow'ful  comfortin*  for  Miss  Hob  to  have 
sumfin'  on  her 


13 


CHAPTER  II 

ABOUT  a  week  after  Mr.  Lawrence  Croft  had  had  his 
conversation  with  Miss  March  on  the  stile  steps  at 
Midbranch,  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  his  home  in 
New  York.  He  was  not  a  man  of  business,  but  he 
had  business ;  and,  besides  this,  he  considered  if  he  con 
tinued  much  longer  to  reside  in  the  utterly  attraction- 
less  cottage  at  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs,  and  rode 
over  every  day  to  the  very  attractive  house  at  Mid- 
branch,  that  the  points  mentioned  in  the  previous 
chapter  might  get  themselves  reversed.  He  was  a 
man  who  was  proud  of  being,  under  all  circumstances, 
frank  and  honest  with  himself.  He  did  not  wish,  if  it 
could  be  avoided,  to  deceive  other  people,  but  he  was 
prudent  and  careful  about  exhibiting  his  motives  and 
intended  course  of  action  to  his  associates.  Himself, 
however,  he  took  into  his  strictest  confidence.  He  was 
fond  of  the  idea  that  he  went  into  the  battle  of  life 
covered  and  protected  by  a  great  shield,  but  that  the 
inside  of  the  shield  was  a  mirror  in  which  he  could 
always  see  himself.  Looking  into  this  mirror,  he  now 
saw  that,  if  he  did  not  soon  get  away  from  Miss  Eo- 
berta,  he  would  lay  down  his  shield  and  surrender, 
and  it  was  his  intent  that  this  should  not  happen 
until  he  wished  it  to  happen. 

14 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

It  was  very  natural,  when  Lawrence  reached  New 
York,  that  he  should  take  pleasure  in  talking  about 
Miss  Roberta  March  and  her  family  with  any  one  who 
knew  them.  He  was  particularly  anxious,  if  he  could 
do  so  delicately  and  without  exciting  any  suspicion  of 
his  object,  to  know  as  much  as  possible  about  Sylvester 
March,  the  lady's  father.  In  doing  this,  he  did  not 
feel  that  he  was  prying  into  the  affairs  of  others,  but 
he  could  not  be  true  to  himself  unless  he  looked  well 
in  advance  before  he  made  the  step  on  which  his  mind 
was  set.  It  was  in  this  way  that  he  happened  to  learn 
that,  about  two  years  before,  Miss  March  had  been 
engaged  to  be  married,  but  that  the  engagement  had 
been  broken  off  for  reasons  not  known  to  his  inform 
ants,  and  he  could  find  out  nothing  about  the  gentle 
man,  except  that  his  name  was  Junius  Keswiek. 

The  fact  that  the  lady  had  had  a  lover  put  her  in 
a  new  light  before  Lawrence  Croft.  He  had  had  an 
idea,  suggested  by  the  very  friendly  nature  of  their 
intercourse,  that  she  was  a  woman  whose  mind  did  not 
run  out  to  love  or  marriage,  but  now  that  he  knew 
that  she  was  susceptible  of  being  wooed  and  won, 
because  these  things  had  actually  happened  to  her, 
he  was  very  glad  that  he  had  come  away  from  Mid- 
branch. 

The  impression  soon  became  very  strong  upon  the 
mind  of  Lawrence  that  he  would  like  to  know  what 
kind  of  man  was  this  former  lover.  He  had  known 
Miss  March  about  a  year,  and  at  the  time  of  his  first 
acquaintance  with  her  she  must  have  come  very  fresh 
from  this  engagement.  To  study  the  man  to  whom 
Eoberta  March  had  been  willing  to  engage  herself 
was,  to  Lawrence's  mode  of  thinking,  if  not  a  pre- 
15 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

requisite  procedure  in  his  contemplated  course  of 
action,  at  least  a  very  desirable  one. 

But  lie  was  rather  surprised  to  find  that  no  one 
knew  much  about  Mr.  Junius  Keswick,  or  could  give 
him  any  account  of  his  present  whereabouts,  although 
he  had  been,  at  the  time  when  his  engagement  was  in 
force,  a  resident  of  New  York.  To  consult  a  directory 
was,  therefore,  an  obvious  first  step  in  the  affair  ;  and, 
with  this  intent,  Mr.  Croft  entered,  one  morning,  an 
apothecary's  shop  in  a  street  which,  though  a  busy 
one,  was  in  a  rather  out-of-the-way  part  of  the  city. 

"We  haven't  any  directory,  sir,"  said  the  clerk, 
"but  if  you  will  step  across  the  street  you  can  find 
one  at  that  little  shop  with  the  green  door.  Every 
body  goes  there  to  look  at  the  directory." 

The  green  door  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street, 
approached  by  a  single  flat  step  of  stone,  had  a  tin 
sign  upon  it,  on  which  was  painted : 

"  INFORMATION 

OF  EVERY  VARIETY 

FURNISHED    WITHIN." 

Pushing  open  the  door,  Lawrence  entered  a  long, 
narrow  room,  not  very  well  lighted,  with  a  short 
counter  on  one  side,  and  some  desks,  partially  screened 
by  a  curtain,  at  the  farther  end.  A  boy  was  behind 
the  counter,  and  to  him  Lawrence  addressed  himself, 
asking  permission  to  look  at  a  city  directory. 

"  One  cent,  if  you  look  yourself;  three  cents,  if  we 
look,"  said  the  boy,  producing  a  thick  volume  from 
beneath  the  counter. 

"One  cent?"  said  Lawrence,  smiling  at  the  oddity 
16 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

of  this  charge,  as  he  opened  the  book  and  turned  to 
the  letter  K. 

"Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "and  if  the  fine  print  hurts 
your  eyes,  we'll  look  for  three  cents." 

At  this  moment  a  man  came  from  one  of  the  desks 
at  the  other  end  of  the  room,  and  handed  the  boy  a 
letter,  with  which  that  young  person  immediately 
departed.  The  new-comer,  a  smooth-shaven  man  of 
about  thirty,  with  the  air  of  the  proprietor  or  head 
manager  very  strong  upon  him,  took  the  boy's  position 
behind  the  counter,  and  remarked  to  Lawrence : 
"Most  people,  when  they  first  come  here,  think  it 
rather  queer  to  pay  for  looking  at  the  directory,  but 
you  see  we  don't  keep  a  directory  to  coax  people  to 
come  in  to  buy  medicines  or  anything  else.  "We  sell 
nothing  but  information,  and  part  of  our  stock  is  what 
you  get  out  of  a  directory.  But  it's  the  best  plan  all 
round,  for  we  can  afford  to  give  you  a  clean,  good  book 
instead  of  one  all  jagged  and  worn ;  and  as  you  pay 
your  money,  you  feel  you  can  look  as  long  as  you  like, 
and  come  when  you  please." 

"  It  is  a  very  good  plan,"  said  Lawrence,  closing  the 
book,  "  but  the  name  I  want  is  not  here." 

"  Perhaps  it  is  in  last  year's  directory,"  said  the  man, 
producing  another  volume  from  under  the  counter. 

"  That  wouldn't  do  me  much  good,"  said  Lawrence. 
"  I  want  to  know  where  some  one  resides  this  year." 

"It  will  do  a  great  deal  of  good,"  said  the  other, 
"for  if  we  know  where  a  person  has  lived,  inquiries 
can  be  made  there  as  to  where  he  has  gone.  Some 
times  we  go  back  three  or  four  years,  and  when  we 
have  once  found  a  man's  name,  we  follow  him  up  from 
place  to  place  until  we  can  give  the  inquirer  his  pres- 

17 


THE  LATE   MRS.  NULL 

ent  address.  What  is  the  name  you  wanted,  sir? 
You  were  looking  in  the  K's." 

"Keswick,"  said  Lawrence/"  Junius  Keswick." 

The  man  ran  his  finger  and  his  eyes  down  a  column, 
and  remarked :  "  There  is  Keswick,  but  it  is  Peter, 
laborer  j  I  suppose  that  isn't  the  party." 

Lawrence  smiled,  and  shook  his  head. 

"  We  will  take  the  year  before  that,"  said  the  man, 
with  cheerful  alacrity,  heaving  up  another  volume. 
"Here's  two  Keswicks/'  he  said  in  a  moment,  "one 
John,  and  the  other  Stephen  W.  Neither  of  them 
right?" 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence  j  "  my  man  is  Junius ;  and  we 
need  not  go  any  farther  back.  I  am  afraid  the  person 
I  am  looking  for  was  only  a  sojourner  in  the  city,  and 
that  his  name  did  not  get  into  the  directory.  I  know 
that  he  was  here  year  before  last." 

"All  right,  sir,"  said  the  other,  pushing  aside  the 
volume  he  had  been  consulting.  "  We'll  find  the  man 
for  you  from  the  hotel  books,  and  what  is  more,  we 
can  see  those  two  Keswicks  that  I  found  last.  Per 
haps  they  were  relations  of  his,  and  he  was  staying 
with  them.  If  you  put  the  matter  in  our  hands,  we'll 
give  you  the  address  to-morrow  night,  provided  it's 
an  ordinary  case.  But  if  he  has  gone  to  Australia  or 
Japan,  of  course  it'll  take  longer.  Is  it  crime  or 
relationship  f  " 

"  Neither,"  replied  Lawrence. 

"  It  is  generally  one  of  them,"  said  the  man,  "  and  if 
it's  crime  we  carry  it  on  to  a  certain  point,  and  then 
put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  detectives,  for  we've 
nothing  to  do  with  police  business,  private  or  other 
wise.  But  if  it's  relationship,  we'll  go  right  through 

18 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

with  it  to  the  end.  Any  kind  of  information  you  may 
want  we'll  give  you  here ;  scientific,  biographical,  busi 
ness,  healthfulness  of  localities,  genuineness  of  an 
tiquities,  age  and  standing  of  individuals,  purity  of 
liquors  or  teas  from  sample,  Bible  items  localized, 
china  verified  j  in  fact,  anything  you  want  to  know  we 
can  tell  you.  Of  course  we  don't  pretend  that  we 
know  all  these  things,  but  we  know  the  people  who  do 
know,  or  who  can  find  them  out.  By  coming  to  us, 
and  paying  a  small  sum,  the  most  valuable  informa 
tion,  which  it  would  take  you  years  to  find  out,  can 
be  secured  with  certainty,  and  generally  in  a  few  days. 
We  know  what  to  do,  and  where  to  go,  and  that's 
the  point.  If  it's  a  new  bug  or  a  microscope  insect,  we 
put  it  into  the  hands  of  a  man  who  knows  just  what 
high  scientific  authority  to  apply  to  ;  if  it's  the  middle 
name  of  your  next-door  neighbor  we'll  give  it  to  you 
from  his  baptismal  record.  I'm  getting  up  a  pamphlet- 
circular  which  will  be  ready  in  about  a  week,  and 
which  will  fully  explain  our  methods  of  business,  with 
the  charges  for  the  different  items,  etc." 

"  Well,"  said  Lawrence,  taking  out  his  pocket-book, 
"  I  want  the  address  of  Junius  Keswick,  and  I  think  I 
will  let  you  look  it  up  for  me.  What  is  your  charge  t " 

"  It  will  be  two  dollars,"  said  the  man,  "  ordinary ; 
and  if  we  find  inquiries  run  into  other  countries  we 
will  make  special  terms.  And  then  there's  seven 
cents,  one  for  your  look,  and  two  threes  for  ours.  You 
shall  hear  from  us  to-morrow  night  at  your  hotel  or 
residence,  unless  you  prefer  to  call  here." 

"  I  will  call  the  day  after  to-morrow,"  said  Lawrence, 
producing  a  five-dollar  note. 

"Very  good,"  replied  the  proprietor.  "Will  you 
19 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

please  pay  the  cashier  ?  "  pointing  at  the  same  time  to 
a  desk  behind  Lawrence  which  the  latter  had  not 
noticed. 

Approaching  this  desk,  the  top  of  which,  except  for 
a  small  space  in  front,  was  surrounded  by  short  cur 
tains,  he  saw  a  young  girl  busily  engaged  in  reading  a 
book.  He  proffered  her  the  note,  the  proprietor  at 
the  same  time  calling  out :  "  Two,  seven." 

The  girl  turned  the  book  down  to  keep  the  place  ; 
then  she  took  the  note,  and  opened  a  small  drawer,  in 
which  she  fumbled  for  some  moments.  Closing  the 
drawer,  she  rose  to  her  feet  and  waved  the  note  over 
the  curtain  to  her  right. 

"Haven't  any  change,  eh?"  said  the  man,  coming 
from  behind  the  counter,  and  putting  on  his  hat.  "  As 
the  boy's  not  here,  I'll  step  out  and  get  it." 

The  girl  turned  up  her  book,  and  began  to  read 
again,  and  Lawrence  stood  and  looked  at  her,  won 
dering  what  need  there  was  of  a  cashier  in  a  place  like 
this.  She  appeared  to  be  under  twenty,  rather  thin- 
faced,  and  was  plainly  dressed.  In  a  few  moments  she 
raised  her  eyes  from  her  book,  and  said  :  "  Won't  you 
sit  down,  sir?  I  am  sorry  you  have  to  wait,  but  we 
are  short  of  change  to-day,  and  sometimes  it  is  hard 
to  get  it  in  this  neighborhood." 

Lawrence  declined  to  be  seated,  but  was  very  willing 
to  talk.  "Was  it  the  proprietor  of  this  establish 
ment,"  he  asked,  "  who  went  out  to  get  the  money 
changed?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  she  answered.     "  That  is  Mr.  Candy." 

"  A  queer  name,"  said  Lawrence,  smiling. 

The  girl  looked  up  at  him,  and  smiled  in  return. 
There  was  a  very  perceptible  twinkle  in  her  eyes, 

20 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

which  seemed  to  be  eyes  that  would  like  to  be  merry 
ones,  and  a  slight  movement  of  the  corners  of  her 
mouth  which  indicated  a  desire  to  say  something  in 
reply,  but,  restrained  probably  by  loyalty  to  her 
employer,  or  by  prudent  discretion  regarding  con 
versation  with  strangers,  she  was  silent. 

Lawrence,  however,  continued  his  remarks.  "  The 
whole  business  seems  to  me  very  odd.  Suppose  I  were 
to  come  here  and  ask  for  information  as  to  where  I 
could  get  a  five-dollar  note  changed ;  would  Mr.  Candy 
be  able  to  tell  me?" 

"  He  would  do  in  that  case  just  as  he  does  in  all 
others,"  she  said ;  "  first,  he  would  go  and  find  out, 
and  then  he  would  let  you  know.  Giving  information 
is  only  half  the  business  j  finding  things  out  is  the  other 
half.  That's  what  he's  doing  now." 

"So,  when  he  comes  back,"  said  Lawrence,  "he'll 
have  a  new  bit  of  information  to  add  to  his  stock  on 
hand,  which  must  be  a  very  peculiar  one,  I  fancy." 

The  cashier  smiled.  "  Yes,"  she  said,  "  and  a  very 
useful  one,  too,  if  people  only  knew  it." 

"Don't  they  know  it?"  asked  Lawrence.  "Don't 
you  have  plenty  of  custom?  " 

At  this  moment  the  door  opened,  Mr.  Candy  en 
tered,  and  the  conversation  stopped. 

"  Sorry  to  keep  you  waiting,  sir,"  said  the  proprietor, 
passing  some  money  to  the  cashier  over  the  curtain, 
who  thereupon  handed  two  dollars  and  ninety-three 
cents  to  Lawrence  through  the  little  opening  in  front. 

"  If  you  call  the  day  after  to-morrow,  the  informa 
tion  will  be  ready  for  you,"  said  Mr.  Candy,  as  the 
gentleman  departed. 

On  the  appointed  day,  Lawrence  came  again,  and 
21 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

found  nobody  in  the  place  but  the  cashier,  who  handed 
him  a  note. 

"  Mr.  Candy  left  this  for  you,  in  case  he  should  not 
be  in  when  you  called,"  she  said. 

The  note  stated  that  the  search  for  the  address  of 
Junius  Keswick  had  opened  very  encouragingly,  but 
as  it  was  quite  evident  that  said  person  was  not  now 
in  the  city,  the  investigations  would  have  to  be  car 
ried  on  on  a  more  extended  scale,  and  a  deposit  of 
three  dollars  would  be  necessary  to  meet  expenses. 

Lawrence  looked  from  the  note  to  the  cashier,  who 
had  been  watching  him  as  he  read.  "  Does  Mr.  Candy 
want  me  to  leave  three  dollars  with  you  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  That's  what  he  said,  sir." 

"  Well,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  don't  care  about  paying 
for  unlimited  investigation  in  this  way.  If  the  gentle 
man  I  am  in  search  of  has  left  the  city,  and  Mr.  Candy 
has  been  able  to  find  out  to  what  place  he  went,  he 
should  have  told  me  that,  and  I  would  have  decided 
whether  or  not  I  wanted  him  to  do  anything  more." 

The  face  of  the  cashier  appeared  troubled.  "  I 
think,  sir,"  she  said,  "that  if  you  leave  the  money, 
Mr.  Candy  will  do  all  he  can  to  discover  what  you 
wish  to  know,  and  that  it  will  not  be  very  long  before 
you  have  the  address  of  the  person  you  are  seeking." 

"Do  you  really  think  he  has  any  clew?"  asked 
Lawrence. 

This  question  did  not  seem  to  please  the  cashier, 
and  she  answered  gravely,  though  without  any  show  of 
resentment :  "  That  is  a  strange  question  after  I  ad 
vised  you  to  leave  the  money." 

Lawrence  had  a  kind  heart,  and  it  reproached  him. 
"I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  he.  "I  will  leave  the 

22 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

money  with  you,  but  1  desire  that  Mr.  Candy  will,  in 
his  next  communication,  give  me  all  the  information 
he  has  acquired  up  to  the  moment  of  writing,  and  then 
I  will  decide  whether  it  is  worth  while  to  go  on  with 
the  matter,  or  not." 

He  thereupon  took  out  his  pocket-book  and  handed 
three  dollars  to  the  cashier,  who,  with  an  air  of  delib 
erate  thoughtfulness,  smoothed  out  the  two  notes,  and 
placed  them  in  her  drawer.  Then  she  said  :  "  If  you 
will  leave  your  address,  sir,  I  will  see  that  you  receive 
your  information  as  soon  as  possible.  That  will  be 
better  than  for  you  to  call,  because  I  can't  tell  you 
when  to  come." 

"Very  well,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and  I  will  be  obliged 
to  you  if  you  will  hurry  up  Mr.  Candy  as  much  as  you 
can."  And,  handing  her  his  card,  he  went  his  way. 

The  way  of  Lawrence  Croft  was  generally  a  very 
pleasant  one,  for  the  fortunate  conditions  of  his  life 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  go  around  most  of  the 
rough  places  which  might  lie  in  it.  His  family  was 
an  old  one,  and  a  good  one,  but  there  was  very  little 
of  it  left,  and  of  its  scattered  remnants  he  was  the  most 
important  member.  But  although  circumstances  did 
not  force  him  to  do  anything  in  particular,  he  liked 
to  believe  that  he  was  a  rigid  master  to  himself,  and 
whatever  he  did  was  always  done  with  a  purpose. 
When  he  travelled  he  had  an  object  in  view ;  when 
he  stayed  at  home  the  case  was  the  same. 

His  present  purpose  was  the  most  serious  one  of  his 
life  :  he  wished  to  marry ;  and,  if  she  should  prove  to 
be  the  proper  person,  he  wished  to  marry  Koberta 
March  ;  and,  as  a  preliminary  step  in  the  carrying  out 
of  his  purpose,  he  wanted  very  much  to  know  what 

23 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

sort  of  man  Miss  March  had  once  been  willing  to 
marry. 

When  five  days  had  elapsed  without  his  hearing 
from  Mr.  Candy,  he  became  impatient  and  betook 
himself  to  the  green  door  with  the  tin  sign.  Entering, 
he  found  only  the  boy  and  the  cashier.  Addressing 
himself  to  the  latter,  he  asked  if  anything  had  been 
done  in  his  business. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  she  said,  "  and  I  hoped  Mr.  Candy  would 
write  you  a  letter  this  morning  before  he  went  out, 
but  he  didn't,  He  traced  the  gentleman  to  Niagara 
Falls,  and  I  think  you'll  hear  something  very  soon." 

"  If  inquiries  have  to  be  carried  on  outside  of  the 
city,"  said  Lawrence,  "  they  will  probably  cost  a  good 
deal,  and  come  to  nothing.  I  think  I  will  drop  the 
matter  as  far  as  Mr.  Candy  is  concerned." 

"  I  wish  you  would  give  us  a  little  more  time,"  said 
the  girl.  "  I  am  sure  you  will  hear  something  in  a 
few  days,  and  you  need  not  be  afraid  there  will  be  any 
thing  more  to  pay  unless  you  are  satisfied  that  you 
have  received  the  full  worth  of  the  money." 

Lawrence  reflected  for  a  few  moments,  and  then 
concluded  to  let  the  matter  go  on.  "  Tell  Mr.  Candy 
to  keep  me  frequently  informed  of  the  progress  of  the 
affair,"  said  he,  "  and  if  he  is  really  of  any  service  to 
me  I  am  willing  to  pay  him,  but  not  otherwise." 

"  That  will  be  all  right,"  said  the  cashier,  "  and  if 
Mr.  Candy  is— is  prevented  from  doing  it,  I'll  write 
to  you  myself,  and  keep  you  posted." 

As  soon  as  the  customer  had  gone,  the  boy,  who  had 
been  sitting  on  the  counter,  thus  spoke  to  the  cashier : 
"  You  know  very  well  that  old  Mintstick  has  given  that 
thing  up ! " 

24 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  I  know  lie  has/'  said  the  girl,  "  but  I  have  not." 

"  You  haven't  anything  to  do  with  it,"  said  the  boy. 

"  Yes,  I  have,"  she  answered.  "  I  advised  that  gen 
tleman  to  pay  his  money,  and  I'm  not  going  to  see 
him  cheated  out  of  it.  Of  course,  Mr.  Candy  doesn't 
mean  to  cheat  him,  but  he  has  gone  into  that  business 
about  the  origin  of  the  tame  blackberry,  and  there's 
no  knowing  when  he'll  get  back  to  this  thing,  which 
is  not  in  his  line,  anyway." 

"  I  should  say  it  wasn't ! "  exclaimed  the  boy,  with  a 
loud  laugh.  "  Sendin'  me  to  look  up  them  two  Kes- 
wicks,  who  was  both  put  down  as  cordwainers  in  year 
before  last's  directory,  and  askin'  'em  if  there  was  any 
Juniuses  in  their  families." 

"  Junius  Keswick,  did  you  say?  Is  that  the  name 
of  the  gentleman  Mr.  Candy  was  looking  for  1 " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy. 

Presently  the  cashier  remarked  :  "  I  am  going  to  look 
at  the  books."  And  she  betook  herself  to  the  desk  at 
the  back  part  of  the  shop. 

In  about  half  an  hour  she  returned  and  handed  to 
the  boy  a  memorandum  upon  a  scrap  of  paper.  "  You 
go  out  now  to  your  lunch,"  she  said,  "  and  while  you 
are  out,  stop  at  the  St.  Winifred  Hotel,  where  Mr. 
Candy  found  the  name  of  Junius  Keswick,  and  see  if 
it  is  not  down  again  not  long  after  the  date  which  I 
have  put  on  this  slip  of  paper.  I  think  if  a  person 
went  to  Niagara  Falls  he'd  be  just  as  likely  to  make  a 
little  trip  of  it  and 'come  back  again  as  to  keep  travel 
ling  on,  which  Mr.  Candy  supposes  he  did.  If  you 
find  the  name  again,  put  down  the  date  of  arrival  on 
this,  and  see  if  there  was  any  memorandum  about  for 
warding  letters." 

25 


THE   LATE   MRS.  NULL 

"  All  right,"  said  the  boy  "  But  I'll  be  gone  an  hour 
and  a  half.  Can't  cut  into  my  lunch-time." 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days  Lawrence  Croft  received 
a  note  signed  Candy  &  Co.  "per"  some  illegible  ini 
tials,  which  stated  that  Mr.  Junius  Keswick  had  been 
traced  to  a  boarding-house  in  the  city,  but  as  the  estab 
lishment  had  been  broken  up  for  some  time,  endeavors 
were  now  being  made  to  find  the  lady  who  had  kept 
the  house,  and  when  this  was  done  it  would  most  likely 
be  possible  to  discover  from  her  where  Mr.  Keswick 
had  gone. 

Lawrence  waited  a  few  days  and  then  called  at  the 
Information  Shop.  Again  was  Mr.  Candy  absent ;  and 
so  was  the  boy.  The  cashier  informed  him  that  she 
had  found,— that  is,  that  the  lady  who  kept  the  board 
ing-house  had  been  found,— and  she  thought  she  re 
membered  the  gentleman  in  question,  and  promised, 
as  soon  as  she  could,  to  look  through  a  book  in  which 
she  used  to  keep  directions  for  the  forwarding  of  letters, 
and  in  this  way  another  clew  might  soon  be  expected. 

"  This  seems  to  be  going  on  better,"  said  Lawrence, 
"but  Mr.  Candy  doesn't  show  much  in  the  affair. 
Who  is  managing  it?  You? " 

The  girl  blushed  and  then  laughed,  a  little  con 
fusedly.  "  I  am  only  the  cashier,"  she  said. 

"  And  the  laborious  duties  of  your  position  would,  of 
course,  give  you  no  time  for  anything  else,"  remarked 
Lawrence. 

"  Oh,  well,"  said  the  girl,  "  of  course  it  is  easy  enough 
for  any  one  to  see  that  I  haven't  much  to  do  as  cashier, 
but  the  boy  and  Mr.  Candy  are  nearly  always  out, 
looking  up  things,  and  I  have  to  do  other  business 
besides  attending  to  cash." 

26 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"If  you  are  attending  to  my  business,"  said  Law 
rence,  "  I  am  very  glad,  especially  now  that  it  has 
reached  the  boarding-house  stage,  where  I  think  a 
woman  will  be  better  able  to  work  than  a  man.  Are 
you  doing  this  entirely  independent  of  Mr.  Candy  !  " 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  the  cashier,  with  an  honest,  straight 
forward  look  from  her  gray  eyes  that  pleased  Law 
rence,  "  I  may  as  well  confess  that  I  am.  But  there's 
nothing  mean  about  it.  He  has  all  the  same  as  given  it 
up,  for  he's  waiting  to  hear  from  a  man  in  Niagara,  who 
will  never  write  to  him,  and  probably  hasn't  anything 
to  write,  and  as  I  advised  you  to  pay  the  money  I  feel 
bound  in  honor  to  see  that  the  business  is  done,  if  it 
can  be  done." 

"  Have  you  a  brother  or  a  husband  to  help  you  in 
these  investigations  and  searches  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  No,"  said  the  cashier,  with  a  smile.  "  Sometimes  I 
send  our  boy,  and  as  to  boarding-houses,  I  can  go  to 
them  myself  after  we  shut  up  here." 

"  I  wish,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  you  were  married, 
and  that  you  had  a  husband  who  would  not  interfere 
in  this  matter  at  all,  but  who  would  go  about  with 
you,  and  so  enable  you  to  follow  up  your  clew  thor 
oughly.  You  take  up  the  business  in  the  right  spirit, 
and  I  believe  you  would  succeed  in  finding  Mr.  Kes- 
wick,  but  I  don't  like  the  idea  of  sending  you  about 
by  yourself." 

"  I  won't  deny,"  said  the  cashier,  "  that  since  I  have 
begun  this  affair  I  would  like  very  much  to  carry  it 
out ;  so,  if  you  don't  object,  I  won't  give  it  up  just  yet, 
and  as  soon  as  anything  happens  I'll  let  you  know." 


27 


CHAPTER  III 

AUTUMN  in  Virginia,  especially  if  one  is  not  too  near 
the  mountains,  is  a  season  in  which  greenness  sails  very 
close  to  Christmas,  although  generally  veering  away  in 
time  to  prevent  its  verdant  hues  from  tingeing  that 
happy  day  with  the  gloomy  influence  of  the  prophetic 
proverb  about  churchyards.  Long  after  the  time 
when  the  people  of  the  regions  watered  by  the  Hudson 
and  the  Merrimac  are  beginning  to  button  up  their 
overcoats,  and  to  think  of  weather-strips  for  their 
window-sashes,  the  dwellers  in  the  land  through  which 
flow  the  Appomattox  and  the  James  may  sit  upon 
their  broad  piazzas,  and  watch  the  growing  glories  of 
the  forests,  where  the  crimson  stars  of  the  sweet-gum 
blaze  among  the  rich  yellows  of  the  chestnuts,  the 
lingering  green  of  the  oaks,  and  the  enduring  verdure 
of  the  pines.  The  insects  still  hum  in  the  sunny  air, 
and  the  sun  is  now  a  genial  orb  whose  warm  rays 
cheer  but  not  excoriate. 

The  orb  just  mentioned  was  approaching  the  hori 
zon,  when,  in  an  adjoining  county  to  that  in  which 
was  situated  the  hospitable  mansion  of  Midbranch,  a 
little  negro  boy  about  ten  years  old  was  driving  some 
cows  through  a  gateway  that  opened  on  a  public  road. 
The  cows,  as  they  were  going  homeward,  filed  willingly 

28 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

through,  the  gateway,  which  led  into  a  field,  at  the  far 
end  of  which  might  be  dimly  discerned  a  house  behind 
a  mass  of  foliage  ;  but  the  boy,  whose  head  and  voice 
were  entirely  too  big  for  the  rest  of  him,  assailed  them 
with  all  manner  of  reproaches  and  impellent  adjectives, 
addressing  each  cow  in  turn  as  :  "  You,  sah  ! "  When 
the  compliant  beasts  had  hustled  through,  the  young 
ster  got  upon  the  gate,  and  giving  it  a  push  with  one 
bare  foot,  he  swung  upon  it  as  far  as  it  would  go ;  then 
lifting  the  end  from  the  surface  of  the  ground  he  shut 
it  with  a  bang,  fastened  it  with  a  hook,  and  ran  after 
the  cows,  his  wild  provocatives  to  bovine  haste  ringing 
high  into  the  evening  air. 

This  youth  was  known  as  Plez,  his  whole  name  being 
Pleasant  Valley,  an  inspiration  to  his  mother  from  the 
label  on  a  grape-box,  which  had  drifted  into  that  re 
gion  from  the  North.  He  had  just  stooped  to  pick  up 
a  clod  of  earth  with  which  to  accentuate  his  vocifera 
tions,  when,  on  rising,  he  was  astounded  by  the  appari 
tion  of  an  elderly  woman  wearing  a  purple  sunbonnet, 
and  carrying  a  furled  umbrella  of  the  same  color. 
Behind  the  spectacles,  which  were  fixed  upon  him, 
blazed  a  pair  of  fiery  eyes,  and  the  soul  of  Plez  shriv 
elled  and  curled  up  within  him.  His  downcast  eyes 
were  bent  upon  his  upturned  toes,  the  clod  dropped 
from  his  limp  fingers,  and  his  mouth,  which  had  been 
opened  for  a  yell,  remained  open,  but  the  yell  had 
apparently  swooned. 

The  words  of  the  old  lady  were  brief,  but  her  um 
brella  was  full  of  jerky  menace,  and  when  she  left  him, 
and  passed  on  towards  the  outer  gate,  Plez  followed 
the  cows  to  the  house  with  the  meekness  of  a  sus 
pected  sheep-dog. 

29 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

The  cows  had  been  milked,  some  by  a  rotund  black 
woman  named  Letty,  and  some,  much  to  their  dis 
comfort,  by  Plez  himself,  and  it  was  beginning  to  grow 
dark,  when  an  open  spring- wagon  driven  by  a  colored 
man,  and  with  a  white  man  on  the  back  seat,  came 
along  the  road,  and  stopped  at  the  gate.  The  driver, 
having  passed  the  reins  to  the  occupant  on  the  back 
seat,  got  down,  opened  the  gate,  and  stood  holding  it 
while  the  other  drove  the  horse  into  the  road  which 
ran  by  the  side  of  the  field  to  the  house  behind  the 
trees.  At  this  time  a  passer-by,  if  there  had  been  one, 
might  have  observed,  partly  protruding  from  behind 
some  bushes  on  the  other  side  of  the  public  road,  and 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  gate,  the  lower  portion  of 
a  purple  umbrella.  As  the  spring- wagon  approached, 
and  during  the  time  that  it  was  turning  into  the  gate, 
and  while  it  was  waiting  for  the  driver  to  resume  his 
seat,  this  umbrella  was  considerably  agitated,  so  much 
so  indeed  as  to  cause  a  little  rustling  among  the  leaves. 
When  the  gate  had  been  shut,  and  the  wagon  had 
passed  on  towards  the  house,  the  end  of  the  umbrella 
disappeared,  and  then,  on  the  other  side  of  the  bush, 
there  came  into  view  a  sunbonnet  of  the  same  color 
as  the  umbrella.  This  surmounted  the  form  of  an  old 
lady,  who  stepped  into  the  pathway  by  the  side  of  the 
road,  and  walked  away  with  a  quick,  active  step  which 
betokened  both  energy  and  purpose. 

The  house,  before  which,  not  many  minutes  later, 
this  spring- wagon  stopped,  was  not  a  fine  old  family 
mansion  like  that  of  Midbranch,  but  it  was  a  comfort 
able  dwelling,  though  an  unpretending  one.  The  gen 
tleman  on  the  back  seat,  and  the  driver,  who  was  an 
elderly  negro,  both  turned  toward  the  hall  door,  which 

30 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

was  open  and  lighted  by  a  lamp  "within,  as  if  they 
expected  some  one  to  come  out  on  the  porch.  But 
nobody  came,  and,  after  a  moment's  hesitation,  the 
gentleman  got  down,  and  taking  a  valise  from  the 
back  of  the  wagon,  mounted  the  steps  of  the  porch. 
While  he  was  doing  this  the  face  of  the  negro  man, 
which  could  be  plainly  seen  in  the  light  from  the  hall 
door,  grew  anxious  and  troubled.  When  the  gentle 
man  set  his  valise  on  the  porch,  and  stood  by  it  with 
out  making  any  attempt  to  enter,  the  old  man  put 
down  the  reins,  and  quickly  descending  from  his  seat, 
hurried  up  the  steps. 

"Dunno  whar  ole  miss  is,  but  I  reckon  she  done 
gone  to  look  after  de  tukkies.  She  dreffle  keerful  dat 
dey  all  go  to  roos'  ebery  night.  Walk  right  in,  Mahs' 
Junius."  And,  taking  up  the  valise,  he  followed  the 
gentleman  into  the  hall. 

There,  near  the  back  door,  stood  the  rotund  black 
woman,  and,  behind  her,  Plez.  "  Look  h'yar,  Letty," 
said  the  negro  man,  "  whar  ole  miss  f  " 

"Dunno,"  said  the  woman.  "She  done  gib  out 
supper,  an'  I  ain't  seed  her  sence.  Is  dis  Mahs'  Ju- 
nius  ?  Reckon  you  don'  'member  Letty  f  " 

"  Yes,  I  do,"  said  the  gentleman,  shaking  hands  with 
her;  "but  the  Letty  I  remember  was  a  rather  slim 
young  woman." 

"Dat's  so,"  said  Letty,  with  a  respectful  laugh, 
"  but,  shuh  'nuf,  my  food's  been  blessed  to  me,  Mahs' 
Junius." 

"But  whar's  ole  miss?"  persisted  the  old  man. 
"  You,  Letty,  can't  you  go  look  her  up  ?  " 

Now  was  heard  the  voice  of  Plez,  who  meekly 
emerged  from  the  shade  of  Letty.  "Ole  miss  done 

31 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

gone  out  to  de  road  gate/7  said  he.  "  I  seen  her  when 
I  brung  de  cows." 

"  Bress  my  soul ! "  ejaculated  Letty.  "  Out  to  de 
road  gate  !  An'  'spectin'  you  too,  Mahs'  Junius  ! " 

"Didn't  she  say  nuffin  to  you?"  said  the  old  man, 
addressing  Plez. 

"She  didn't  say  nuffin  to  me,  Uncle  Isham,"  an 
swered  the  boy,  "  'cept  if  I  didn't  quit  skeerin'  dem 
cows,  an'  makin'  'em  run  wid  froin'  rocks  till  dey  ain't 
got  a  drip  drap  o'  milk  lef  in  'em,  she'd  whang  me 
ober  de  head  wid  her  umbril." 

"  'Tain't  easy  to  tell  whar  she  done  gone  from  dat," 
said  Letty. 

The  face  of  Uncle  Isham  grew  more  troubled. 
"Walk  in  de  parlor,  Mahs'  Junius,"  he  said,  "an' 
make  yo'se'f  comf  ble.  Ole  miss  boun'  to  be  back 
d'reckly.  I'll  go  put  up  de  hoss." 

As  the  old  man  went  heavily  down  the  porch  steps 
he  muttered  to  himself :  "  I  was  feared  o'  sumfin  like 
dis ;  I  done  feel  it  in  my  bones." 

The  gentleman  took  a  seat  in  the  parlor  where  Letty 
had  preceded  him  with  a  lamp.  "Eeckon  ole  miss 
didn't  'spec'  you  quite  so  soon,  Mahs'  Junius,  cos  de 
sorrel  hoss  is  pow'ful  slow,  an'  Uncle  Isham  is  mighty 
keerful  ob  rocks  in  de  road.  Reckon  she's  done  gone 
ober  to  see  ole  Aun'  Patsy,  who's  gwine  to  die  in  two 
or  free  days,  to  take  her  some  red  an'  yaller  pieces  fur 
a  crazy-quilt.  I  know  she's  got  some  pieces  fur  her." 

"  Aunt  Patsy  alive  yet  ?  "  exclaimed  Master  Junius. 
"  But  if  she's  about  to  die,  what  does  she  want  with  a 
crazy-quilt1?" 

"  Bat's  fur  she  shroud,"  said  Letty.  "  She  'tends  to 
go  to  glory  all  wrap'  up  in  a  crazy -quilt,  jus'  chock-full 

32 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

ob  all  de  colors  ob  de  rainbow.  Aun7  Patsy  neber 
did  'tend  to  have  a  shroud  o'  bleached  domestic  like 
common  folks.  She  wants  to  cut  a  shine  'mong  de 
angels,  an'  her  quilt's  'most  done,  jus'  one  corner  ob  it 
lef .  Keckon  ole  miss  done  gone  to  carry  her  de  pieces 
fur  dat  corner.  Dere  ain't  much  time  lef,  fur  Aun' 
Patsy  is  pretty  nigh  dead  now.  She's  ober  two  hun- 
nerd  years  ole." 

"  What ! "  exclaimed  Master  Junius,  "  two  hun 
dred?" 

"Yes,  sah,"  answered  Letty.  "Doctor  Peter's  ole 
Jim  was  more'n  a  hunnerd  when  he  died,  an'  we-all 
knows  Aun'  Patsy  is  twice  as  ole  as  ole  Jim." 

"  I'll  wait  here,"  said  Master  Junius,  taking  up  a 
book.  "  I  suppose  she  will  be  back  before  long." 

In  about  half  an  hour  Uncle  Isham  came  into  the 
kitchen,  his  appearance  indicating  that  he  had  had  a 
hurried  walk,  and  told  Letty  that  she  had  better  give 
Master  Junius  his  supper  without  waiting  any  longer 
for  her  mistress.  "  She  ain't  at  Aun'  Patsy's,"  said  the 
old  man,  "  an'  she's  jus'  done  gone  somewhar  else,  an' 
she'll  come  back  when  she's  a  mind  to,  an'  dar  ain't 
nuffin  else  to  say  'bout  it." 

Supper  was  eaten  j  a  pipe  was  smoked  on  the  porch ; 
and  Master  Junius  went  to  bed  in  a  room  which  had 
been  carefully  prepared  for  him  under  the  supervision 
of  the  mistress ;  but  the  purple  sunbonnet  and  the 
umbrella  of  the  same  color  did  not  return  to  the  house 
that  night. 

Master  Junius  was  a  quiet  man,  and  fond  of  walking  $ 
and  the  next  day  he  devoted  to  long  rambles,  some 
times  on  the  roads,  sometimes  over  the  fields,  and 
sometimes  through  the  woods  ;  but  in  none  of  his  walks, 

33 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

nor  when  he  came  back  to  dinner  and  supper,  did  he 
meet  the  elderly  mistress  of  the  house  to  which  he  had 
come.  That  evening,  as  he  sat  on  the  top  step  of  the 
porch  with  his  pipe,  he  summoned  to  him  Uncle  Isham, 
and  thus  addressed  the  old  man : 

"  I  think  it  is  impossible,  Isham,  that  your  mistress 
started  out  to  meet  me,  and  that  an  accident  happened 
to  her.  I  have  walked  all  over  this  neighborhood,  and 
I  know  that  no  accident  could  have  occurred  without 
my  seeing  or  hearing  something  of  it." 

Uncle  Isham  stood  on  the  ground,  his  feet  close  to 
the  bottom  step  ;  his  hat  was  in  his  hand,  and  his  up 
turned  face  wore  an  expression  of  earnestness  which 
seemed  to  set  uncomfortably  upon  it.  "  Mahs'  Junius," 
said  he?  "  dar  ain't  no  acciden'  come  to  ole  miss ;  she's 
done  gone  cos  she  wanted  to,  an'  she  ain't  come  back 
cos  she  didn't  want  to,  Dat's  ole  miss,  right  fru." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  the  young  man,  "  that  as  she  went 
away  on  foot  she  must  be  staying  with  some  of  the 
neighbors.  If  we  were  to  make  inquiries,  it  certainly 
would  not  be  difficult  to  find  out  where  she  is." 

"Mans'  Junius,"  said  Uncle  Isham,  his  black  eyes 
shining  brighter  and  brighter  as  he  spoke,  "dar's 
cullud  people,  an'  white  folks  too,  in  dis  yere  county 
who'd  put  on  der  bes'  clothes  an'  black  der  shoes,  an' 
skip  off  wid  alacrousness,  to  do  de  wus  kin'  o'  sin,  dat 
dey  kuowed  fur  sartin  would  send  'em  down  to  de 
deepes'  an'  hottes'  gullies  ob  de  lower  regions,  but 
nuffin  in  dis  worl'  could  make  one  o'  dem  people  go 
'quirin'  'bout  ole  miss  when  she  didn't  want  to  be 
'quired  about." 

The  smoker  put  down  his  pipe  on  the  top  step  beside 
him,  and  sat  for  a  few  moments  in  thought.  Then  he 

34 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

spoke.  "  Isham,"  he  began,  "  I  want  you  to  tell  me  if 
you  have  any  notion  or  idea—" 

"  Mahs'  Junius,"  exclaimed  the  old  negro,  "  'scuse  me 
fur  int'ruptin',  but  I  can't  help  it.  Don'  you  go  an' 
ax  an  ole  man  like  me  if  I  t'inks  dat  ole  miss  went  away 
cos  you  was  comin'  an7  if  it's  my  true  b'lief  dat  she'll 
neber  come  back  while  you  is  h'yar.  Don'  ask  me 
nuffin  like  dat,  Mahs'  Junius.  I'se  libed  in  dis  place 
all  my  bawn  days,  an'  I  ain't  neber  done  nuffin  to  you, 
Mahs'  Junius,  'cept  keepin'  you  from  breakin'  yo' 
neck  when  yo'  was  too  little  to  know  better.  I  neber 
'jected  to  yo'  marryin'  any  lady  yo'  like  bes',  an' 
'tain't  fa'r,  Mahs'  Junius,  now  I'se  ole  an'  gittin'  on  de 
careen,  fur  you  to  ax  me  wot  I  t'inks  about  ole  miss 
gwine  away  an'  comin'  back.  I  begs  you,  Mahs' 
Junius,  don'  ax  me  dat." 

Master  Junius  rose  to  his  feet.  "  All  right,  Isham," 
he  said ;  "  I  shall  not  worry  your  good  old  heart  with 
questions."  And  he  went  into  the  house. 

The  next  day  this  quiet  gentleman  and  good  walker 
went  to  see  old  Aunt  Patsy,  who  had  apparently  con 
sented  to  live  a  day  or  two  longer ;  gave  her  a  little 
money  in  lieu  of  pieces  for  her  crazy -bedquilt ;  and 
told  her  he  was  going  away  to  stay.  He  told  Uncle 
Isham  he  was  going  away  to  stay  away  j  and  he  said 
the  same  thing  to  Letty,  and  to  Plez,  and  to  two 
colored  women  of  the  neighborhood  whom  he  hap 
pened  to  see.  Then  he  took  his  valise,  which  was  not 
a  very  large  one,  and  departed.  He  refused  to  be 
conveyed  to  the  distant  station  in  the  spring- wagon, 
saying  that  he  much  preferred  to  walk.  Uncle  Isham 
took  leave  of  him  with  much  sadness,  but  did  not  ask 
him  to  stay;  and  Letty  and  Plez  looked  after  him 

35 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

wistfully,  still  holding  in  their  hands  the  coins  he  had 
placed  there.  With  the  exception  of  these  coins,  the 
only  thing  he  left  behind  him  was  a  sealed  letter  on 
the  parlor  table,  addressed  to  the  mistress  of  the  house. 

Toward  the  end  of  that  afternoon,  two  women  came 
along  the  public  road  which  passed  the  outer  gate. 
One  came  from  the  south,  and  rode  in  an  open  car 
riage,  evidently  hired  at  the  railroad-station;  the 
other  was  on  foot,  and  came  from  the  north ;  she  wore 
a  purple  sunbonnet,  and  carried  an  umbrella  of  the 
same  color.  When  this  latter  individual  caught  sight 
of  the  approaching  carriage,  then  at  some  distance,  she 
stopped  short  and  gazed  at  it.  She  did  not  retire 
behind  a  bush,  as  she  had  done  on  a  former  occasion, 
but  she  stood  in  the  shade  of  a  tree  on  the  side  of  the 
road,  and  waited.  As  the  carriage  came  nearer  to  the 
gate  the  surprise  upon  her  face  became  rapidly  mingled 
with  indignation.  The  driver  had  checked  the  speed 
of  his  horses,  and,  without  doubt,  intended  to  stop  at 
the  gate.  This  might  not  have  been  sufficient  to  excite 
her  emotions,  but  she  now  saw  clearly,  having  not  been 
quite  certain  of  it  before,  that  the  occupant  of  the 
carriage  was  a  lady,  and,  apparently,  a  young  one,  for 
she  wore  in  her  hat  some  bright-colored  flowers.  The 
driver  stopped,  got  down,  opened  the  gate,  and  then, 
mounting  to  his  seat,  drove  through,  leaving  the  gate 
standing  wide  open. 

This  contempt  of  ordinary  proprietary  requirements 
made  the  old  lady  spring  out  from  the  shelter  of  the 
shade.  Brandishing  her  umbrella,  she  was  about  to 
cry  out  to  the  man  to  stop  and  shut  the  gate,  but  she 
restrained  herself.  The  distance  was  too  great,  and, 
besides,  she  thought  better  of  it.  She  went  again  into 

36 


THE  LATE   MRS.  NULL 

the  shade,  and  waited.  In  about  ten  minutes  the  car 
riage  came  back,  but  without  the  lady.  This  time 
the  driver  got  down,  shut  the  gate  after  him,  and  drove 
rapidly  away. 

If  blazing  eyes  could  crack  glass,  the  spectacles  of 
the  old  lady  would  have  been  splintered  into  many 
pieces  as  she  stood  by  the  roadside,  the  end  of  her  um 
brella  jabbed  an  inch  or  two  into  the  ground.  After 
standing  thus  for  some  five  minutes,  she  suddenly 
turned  and  walked  vigorously  away  in  the  direction 
from  which  she  had  come. 

Uncle  Isham,  Letty,  and  the  boy  Plez  were  very 
much  surprised  at  the  arrival  of  the  lady  in  the  car 
riage.  She  had  asked  for  the  mistress  of  the  house, 
and  on  being  assured  that  she  was  expected  to  return 
very  soon,  had  alighted,  paid  and  dismissed  her  driver, 
and  had  taken  a  seat  in  the  parlor.  Her  valise,  rather 
larger  than  that  of  the  previous  visitor,  was  brought 
in  and  put  in  the  hall.  She  waited  for  an  hour  or 
two,  during  which  time  Letty  made  several  attempts 
to  account  for  the  non-appearance  of  her  mistress,  who, 
she  said,  was  away  on  a  visit,  but  was  expected  back 
every  minute ;  and  when  supper  was  ready  she  par 
took  of  that  meal  alone,  and  after  a  short  evening 
spent  in  reading  she  went  to  bed  in  the  chamber  which 
Letty  prepared  for  her. 

Before  she  retired,  Letty,  who  had  shown  herself  a 
very  capable  attendant,  said  to  her:  "Wot's  your 
name,  miss  "?  I  allus  likes  to  know  the  names  o7  ladies 
I  waits  on." 

«My  name,"  said  the  lady,  "is  Mrs. 


37 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  autumn  sun  was  shining  very  pleasantly  when, 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Mrs.  Null  came  out 
on  the  porch,  and,  standing  at  the  top  of  the  steps, 
looked  about  her.  She  had  on  her  hat  with  the  red 
flowers,  and  she  wore  a  short  jacket,  into  the  pockets 
of  which  her  hands  were  thrust  with  an  air  which 
indicated  satisfaction  with  the  circumstances  sur 
rounding  her.  The  old  dog,  lying  on  the  grass  at  the 
bottom  of  the  steps,  looked  up  at  her  and  flopped  his 
tail  upon  the  ground.  Mrs.  Null  called  to  him  in  a 
cheerful  tone,  and  the  dog  arose  and,  hesitatingly,  put 
his  fore  feet  on  the  bottom  step  j  then,  when  she  held 
out  her  hand  and  spoke  to  him  again,  he  determined 
that,  come  what  might,  he  would  go  up  those  forbidden 
steps  and  let  her  pat  his  head.  This  he  did,  and  after 
looking  about  him  to  assure  himself  that  this  was 
reality  and  not  a  dog-dream,  he  lay  down  upon  the 
door-mat,  and,  with  a  sigh  of  relief,  composed  himself 
to  sleep.  A  black  turkey-gobbler,  who  looked  as  if  he 
had  been  charred  in  a  fire,  followed  by  five  turkey- 
hens,  also  suggesting  the  idea  that  water  had  been 
thrown  over  them  before  anything  but  their  surfaces 
had  been  burnt,  came  timidly  around  the  house  and 
stopped  before  venturing  upon  the  greensward  in  front 

38 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

of  the  porch ;  then,  seeing  nobody  but  Mrs.  Null,  they 
advanced  with  bobbing  heads  and  swaying  bodies  to 
look  into  the  resources  of  this  seldom-explored  region. 
Plez,  who  was  coming  from  the  spring  with  a  pail  of 
water  on  his  head,  saw  the  dog  on  the  porch  and  the 
turkeys  on  the  grass,  and  stopped  to  regard  the  spec 
tacle.  He  looked  at  them,  and  he  looked  at  Mrs. 
Null,  and  a  grin  of  amused  interest  spread  itself  over 
his  face. 

Mrs.  Null  went  down  the  steps  and  approached  the 
boy.  "  Plez,"  said  she,  "  if  your  mistress,  or  anybody, 
should  come  here  this  morning,  you  must  run  over  to 
Pine  Top  Hill  and  call  me.  I'm  going  there  to  read." 

"  Don'  you  want  me  to  go  wid  you,  an'  show  you  de 
way,  Miss  Null?"  asked  Plez,  preparing  to  set  down 
his  pail. 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  she  ;  "  I  know  the  way."  And  with 
her  hands  still  in  her  pockets,  from  one  of  which  pro 
truded  a  rolled-up  novel,  she  walked  down  to  the 
little  stream  which  ran  from  the  spring,  crossed  the 
plank,  and  took  the  path  which  led  by  the  side  of 
the  vineyard  to  Pine  Top  Hill. 

This  lady  visitor  had  now  been  here  two  days  wait 
ing  for  the  return  of  the  nr  stress  of  the  little  estate  ; 
and  the  sojourn  had  evidently  been  of  benefit  to  her. 
Good  air,  the  good  meals  with  which  Letty  had  pro 
vided  her,  and  a  sort  of  sympathy  which  had  sprung 
up  in  a  very  sudden  way  between  her  and  everything 
on  the  place,  had  given  brightness  to  her  eyes.  She 
even  looked  a  little  plumper  than  when  she  came,  and 
certainly  very  pretty.  She  climbed  Pine  Top  Hill 
without  making  any  mistake  as  to  the  best  path,  and 
went  directly  to  alow  piece  of  sun- warmed  rock  which 

39 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

cropped  out  from  the  ground  not  far  from  the  bases  of 
the  cluster  of  pines  which  gave  the  name  to  the  hill. 
An  extended  and  very  pretty  view  could  be  had  from 
this  spot,  and  Mrs.  Null  seemed  to  enjoy  it,  looking 
about  her  with  quick  turns  of  the  head  as  if  she 
wanted  to  satisfy  herself  that  all  of  the  scenery  was 
there.  Apparently  satisfied  that  it  was,  she  stretched 
out  her  feet,  withdrew  her  gaze  from  the  surrounding 
country,  and  regarded  the  toes  of  her  boots.  Now  she 
smiled  a  little  and  began  to  speak. 

"  Freddy,"  said  she,  "  I  must  think  over  matters,  and 
have  a  talk  with  you  about  them.  Nothing  could  be 
more  proper  than  this,  since  we  are  on  our  wedding- 
tour.  You  keep  beautifully  in  the  background,  which 
is  very  nice  of  you,  for  that's  what  I  married  you  for. 
But  we  must  have  a  talk  now,  for  we  haven't  said  a 
word  to  each  other,  nor,  perhaps,  thought  of  each 
other,  during  the  whole  three  nights  and  two  days  that 
we  have  been  here.  I  expect  these  people  think  it 
very  queer  that  I  should  keep  on  waiting  for  their 
mistress  to  come  back,  but  I  can't  help  it ;  I  must  stay 
till  she  comes,  or  he  comes,  and  they  must  continue  to 
think  it  funny.  And  as  for  Mr.  Croft,  I  suppose  I 
should  get  a  letter  from  him  if  he  knew  where  to 
write,  but  you  know,  Freddy,  we  are  travelling  about 
on  this  wedding-tour  without  letting  anybody,  espe 
cially  Mr.  Croft,  know  exactly  where  we  are.  He 
must  think  it  an  awfully  wonderful  piece  of  good  luck 
that  a  young  married  couple  should  happen  to  be 
journeying  in  the  very  direction  taken  by  a  gentleman 
whom  he  wants  to  find,  and  that  they  are  willing  to 
look  for  the  gentleman  without  charging  anything  but 
the  extra  expenses  to  which  they  may  be  put.  We 

40 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

wouldn't  charge  Mm  a  cent,  you  know,  Freddy  Null, 
but  for  the  fear  that  he  would  think  we  would  not 
truly  act  as  his  agents  if  we  were  not  paid,  and  so 
would  employ  somebody  else.  We  don't  want  him  to 
employ  anybody  else.  We  want  to  find  Junius  Kes- 
wick  before  he  does,  and  then  maybe  we  won't  want 
Mr.  Croft  to  find  him  at  all.  But  I  hope  it  will  not 
turn  out  that  way.  He  said  it  was  neither  crime  nor 
relationship,  and,  of  course,  it  couldn't  be.  What  I 
hope  is  that  it  is  good  fortune ;  but  that's  doubtful. 
At  any  rate,  I  must  see  Junius  first,  if  I  can  possibly 
manage  it.  If  she  would  only  come  back  and  open  her 
letter,  there  might  be  no  more  trouble  about  it,  for  I 
don't  believe  he  would  go  away  without  leaving  her 
his  address.  Isn't  all  this  charming,  Freddy?  And 
don't  you  feel  glad  that  we  came  here  for  our  wedding- 
tour?  Of  course  you  don't  enjoy  it  as  much  as  I  do, 
for  it  can't  seem  so  natural  to  you  $  but  you  are  bound 
to  like  it.  The  very  fact  of  my  being  here  should 
make  the  place  delightful  in  your  eyes,  Mr.  Null,  even 
if  I  have  forgotten  all  about  you  ever  since  I  came." 

That  afternoon,  as  Mrs.  Null  was  occupying  some  of 
her  continuous  leisure  in  feeding  the  turkeys  at  the 
back  of  the  house,  she  noticed  two  colored  men  in 
earnest  conversation  with  Isham.  When  they  had 
gone  she  called  to  the  old  man.  "  Uncle  Isham,"  she 
said,  "what  did  those  men  want?" 

"  Tell  you  what  'tis,  Miss  Null,"  said  Isham,  remov 
ing  his  shapeless  felt  hat,  "  dis  yere  place  is  gittin'  was 
an'  wus  on  de  careen,  an'  wot's  gwine  to  happen  if  ole 
miss  don'  come  back  is  more'n  I  kin  tell.  Bar's  no 
groun'  ploughed  yit  for  wheat,  an'  dem  two  han's  been 
'gaged  to  come  do  it,  an'  dey  put  it  off,  an'  put  it  off, 

41 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

till  ole  miss  got  as  mad  as  hot  coals,  an7  now  at  las' 
dey've  come,  an'  she's  not  h'yar,  an'  nuffin  can  be 
done.  De  wheat'll  be  free  inches  high  on  ebery  oder 
farm  'fore  ole  miss  git  dem  plough-han's  ag'in." 

"That  is  too  bad,  Uncle  Isham,"  said  Mrs.  Null. 
"  When  land  that  ought  to  be  ploughed  isn't  ploughed, 
it  all  grows  up  in  old-field  pines,  don't  it  ?  " 

"  It  don'  do  dat  straight  off,  Miss  Null,"  said  the  old 
negro,  his  gray  face  relaxing  into  a  smile. 

"  No,  I  suppose  not,"  said  she.  "  I  have  heard  that 
it  takes  thirty  years  for  a  whole  forest  of  old-field 
pines  to  grow  up.  But  they  will  do  it  if  the  land  isn't 
ploughed.  Now,  Uncle  Isham,  I  don't  intend  to  let 
everything  be  at  a  standstill  here  just  because  your 
mistress  is  away.  That  is  one  reason  why  I  feed  the 
turkeys.  If  they  died,  or  the  farm  all  went  wrong,  I 
should  feel  that  it  was  partly  my  fault." 

"  Yaas'm,"  said  Uncle  Isham,  passing  his  hat  from 
one  hand  to  the  other,  as  he  delivered  himself  a  little 
hesitatingly,— "  yaas'm  ;  if  you  wasn't  h'yar  p'r'aps  ole 
miss  mought  come  back." 

"  Now,  Uncle  Isham,"  said  Mrs.  Null,  "  you  mustn't 
think  your  mistress  is  staying  away  on  account  of  me. 
She  left  home,  as  Letty  has  told  me  over  and  over, 
because  your  Master  Junius  came.  Of  course  she 
thinks  he's  here  yet,  and  she  don't  know  anything 
about  me.  But  if  her  affairs  should  go  to  rack  and  ruin 
while  I  am  here  and  able  to  prevent  it,  I  should  think 
it  was  my  fault.  That's  what  I  mean,  Uncle  Isham. 
And  now  this  is  what  I  want  you  to  do.  I  want  you 
to  go  right  after  those  men,  and  tell  them  to  come 
here  as  soon  as  they  can,  and  begin  to  plough.  Do 
you  know  where  the  ploughing  is  to  be  done  ?  " 

42 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Oh,  yaas'm,"  said  Uncle  Isham ;  "  dar  ain't  on'y 
one  place  fur  dat.  It's  de  elober-fieF,  ober  dar  on  de 
oder  side  ob  de  gyarden." 

"  And  what  is  to  be  planted  in  it?  "  asked  Mrs.  Null. 

"  Ob  course  dey's  gwine  to  plough  fur  wheat,"  an 
swered  Uncle  Isham,  a  little  surprised  at  the  question. 

"  I  don't  altogether  like  that,"  said  Mrs.  Null,  her 
brows  slightly  contracting.  "  I've  read  a  great  deal 
about  the  foolishness  of  Southern  people  planting 
wheat.  They  can't  compete  with  the  great  wheat- 
farms  of  the  West,  which  sometimes  cover  a  whole 
county,  and,  of  course,  having  so  much,  they  can 
afford  to  sell  it  a  great  deal  cheaper  than  you  can 
here.  And  yet  you  go  on,  year  after  year,  paying 
every  cent  you  can  rake  and  scrape  for  fertilizing 
drugs,  and  getting  about  a  teacupful  of  wheat— that 
is,  proportionately  speaking.  I  don't  think  this  sort 
of  thing  should  continue,  Uncle  Isham.  It  would  be 
a  great  deal  better  to  plough  that  field  for  pickles. 
Now  there  is  a  steady  market  for  pickles,  and,  so  far 
as  I  know,  there  are  no  pickle-farms  in  the  West." 

"  Pickles  ! "  ejaculated  the  astonished  Isham.  "  Do 
you  mean,  Miss  Null,  to  put  dat  fiel'  down  in  ku- 
kumbers  at  dis  time  o'  yeah  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Null,  thoughtfully,  "  I  don't  know 
that  I  feel  authorized  to  make  the  change  at  present, 
but  I  do  know  that  the  things  that  pay  most  are  small 
fruits,  and  if  you  people  down  here  would  pay  more 
attention  to  them  you  would  make  more  money.  But 
the  land  must  be  ploughed,  and  then  we'll  see  about 
planting  it  afterwards ;  your  mistress  will,  probably, 
be  home  in  time  for  that.  You  go  after  the  men,  and 
tell  them  I  shall  expect  them  to  begin  the  first  thing 

43 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

in  the  morning.  And  if  there  is  anything  else  to  be 
done  on  the  farm,  you  come  and  tell  me  about  it  to 
morrow.  I'm  going  to  take  the  responsibility  on 
myself  to  see  that  matters  go  on  properly  until  your 
mistress  returns." 

Letty  and  her  son  Plez  occupied  a  cabin  not  far 
from  the  house,  while  Uncle  Isham  lived  alone  in  a 
much  smaller  tenement,  near  the  barn  and  chicken- 
house.  That  evening  he  went  over  to  Letty's,  taking 
with  him,  as  a  burnt-offering,  a  partially  consumed 
and  still  glowing  log  of  hickory  wood  from  his  own 
hearth-stone.  "  Jes  lemme  tell  you  dis  h'yar,  Letty," 
said  he,  after  making  up  the  fire  and  seating  himself 
on  a  s"tool  near  by :  "  ef  you  want  to  see  ole  miss  come 
back  r'arin'  an7  charging  jes  you  let  her  know  dat  Miss 
Null  is  gwine  ter  plough  de  clober-fiel'  fur  pickles." 

"  Wot's  dat  fool  talk?"  asked  Letty. 

"  Miss  Null's  gwine  ter  boss  dis  farm,  dat's  all,"  said 
Isham.  "  She  tole  me  so  herse'f ;  an'  ef  she's  lef  alone 
she's  gwine  ter  do  it  city  fashion.  But  one  thing's 
sartin  shuh,  Letty :  if  ole  miss  do  fin'  out  wot's  gwine 
on,  she'll  be  back  h'yar  in  no  time !  She  know  well 
'nuf  dat  dat  Miss  Null  ain't  got  no  right  ter  come  an' 
boss  dis  h'yar  farm.  Who's  she,  anyway?  " 

"  Dunno,"  answered  Letty.  "  I  done  ax  her  six  or 
seben  time,  but  'pears  like  I  dunno  wot  she  mean  when 
she  tell  me.  P'r'aps  she's  one  o'  ole  miss'  little  gal 
babies  growed  up.  I  tell  you,  Uncle  Isham,  she  know 
dis  place  jes  as  ef  she  bawn  h'yar." 

Uncle  Isham  looked  steadily  into  the  fire,  and 
rubbed  the  sides  of  his  head  with  his  big  black  fingers. 
"  Ole  miss  nebber  had  no  gal  baby  'cept  one,  an'  dat 
died  when  'twas  mighty  little." 

44 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Does  you  reckon  she  kill  her  ef  she  come  back  an' 
fin'  her  no  kin  f  "  asked  Letty. 

Uncle  Isham  pushed  his  stool  back  and  started  to 
his  feet  with  a  noise  which  woke  Plez,  who  had  been 
soundly  sleeping  on  the  other  side  of  the  fireplace  ;  and 
striding  to  the  door,  the  old  man  went  out  into  the 
open  air.  Returning  in  less  than  a  minute,  he  put 
his  head  into  the  doorway  and  addressed  the  aston 
ished  woman,  who  had  turned  around  to  look  after  him. 
"  Look  h'yar,  you  Letty,  I  don'  want  to  hear  no  sech 
fool  talk  'bout  ole  miss.  You  dunno  ole  miss,  nohow. 
You  only  come  h'yar  seben  year  ago,  when  dat  Plez 
was  trottin'  roun'  wid  nuffin  but  a  little  meal-bag  fur 
clothes.  Mahs'  John  had  been  dead  a  long  time  den. 
You  nebber  knowed  Mahs'  John.  You  nebber  was 
woke  up  at  two  o'clock  in  de  mawnin'  wid  de  crack 
ob  a  pistol,  an'  run  out  'spectin'  'twas  somebody  stealin' 
chickens  an'  Mahs'  John  firin'  at  'em,  an'  see  ole  miss 
a-cuttin'  fur  de  road  gate  wid  her  white  night-gown  a- 
floppin'  in  de  win'  behind  her,  an'  when  we  got  out  to 
de  gate,  dar  we  see  Mahs'  John  a-stan'in'  up  ag'in'  de 
pos',  not  de  pos'  wid  de  hinges  on,  but  de  pos'  wid  de 
hook  on,  an'  a  hole  in  de  top  ob  de  head  which  he 
made  hese'f  wid  de  pistol.  One-eyed  Jim  see  de  whole 
thing.  He  war  stealin'  cohn  in  de  fiel'  on  de  oder 
side  de  road.  He  see  Males'  John  come  out  wid  de 
pistol,  an'  he  lay  low.  Not  dat  it  war  Mahs'  John's 
cohn  dat  he  was  stealin',  but  he  knowed  well  'nuf  dat 
Mahs'  John  take  jes  as  much  car'  o'  he  neighbus' 
cohn  as  he  own.  An'  den  he  see  Mahs'  John  stan'  up 
ag'in'  de  pos'  an'  shoot  de  pistol,  an'  he  see  Mahs'  John's 
soul  come  right  out  de  hole  in  de  top  ob  his  head  an' 
go  straight  up  to  heben  like  a  sky-racket." 

45 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  "Wid  a  whiz  f  "  asked  the  open-eyed  Letty. 

"  Like  a  sky-racket,  I  tell  you/'  continued  the  old 
man ;  "  an7  den  me  an'  ole  miss  come  up.  She  jes  tuk 
one  look  at  him,  an'  den  she  said  in  a  wice,  not  like 
she  own  wice,  but  like  Mahs'  John's  wice,  wot  had 
done  gone  forebber :  *  You  Jim,  come  out  o'  dat  cohn 
an'  help  carry  him  in  ! '  An'  we  free  carried  him  in. 
An'  you  dunno  ole  miss,  nohow,  an'  I  don'  want  to 
hear  no  fool  talk  from  you,  Letty,  'bout  her.  Jes 
you  'member  dat ! " 

And  with  this  Uncle  Isham  betook  himself  to  the 
solitude  of  his  own  cabin. 

"Well,"  said  Letty  to  herself,  as  she  rose  and  ap 
proached  the  bed  in  the  corner  of  the  room,  "I'se 
pow'ful  glad  dat  somebody's  gwine  to  take  de  key- 
bahsket,  for  I  nebber  goes  inter  dat  sto'-room  by 
myse'f  widout  tremblin'  all  froo  my  backbone  fear  ole 
miss  come  back,  an'  fin'  me  dar  'lone." 


46 


CHAPTER  V 

WHEN  Lawrence  Croft  now  took  his  afternoon  walks 
in  the  city,  he  was  very  glad  to  wear  a  light  overcoat, 
and  to  button  it,  too.  But,  although  the  air  was  get 
ting  a  little  nipping  in  New  York,  he  knew  that  it 
must  still  be  balmy  and  enjoyable  in  Virginia.  He 
had  never  been  down  there  at  this  season,  but  he  had 
heard  about  the  Virginia  autumns,  and  besides,  he 
had  seen  a  lady  who  had  had  a  letter  from  Eoberta 
March.  In  this  letter  Miss  March  had  written  that 
as  her  father  intended  making  a  trip  to  Texas,  and 
therefore  would  not  come  to  New  York  as  early  as 
usual,  she  would  stay  at  least  a  month  longer  with  her 
Uncle  Brandon ;  and  she  was  glad  to  do  it,  for  the 
weather  was  perfectly  lovely,  and  she  could  stay  out 
of  doors  all  day  if  she  wanted  to. 

Lawrence's  walks,  although  very  invigorating  on 
account  of  the  fine,  sharp  air,  were  not  entirely  cheer 
ing,  for  they  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  think  that 
he  was  making  no  progress  whatever  in  his  attempt  to 
study  the  character  of  Junius  Keswick.  He  had  in 
trusted  the  search  for  that  gentleman's  address  to  Mr. 
Candy's  cashier,  who  had  informed  him,  most  oppor 
tunely,  that  she  was  about  to  set  out  on  a  wedding- 
tour,  and  that  she  had  possessed  herself  of  clews  of 

47 


THE   LATE   MRS.  NULL 

much  value  winch  could  be  readily  followed  up  in  con 
nection  with  the  projected  journey.  But  a  fortnight 
or  more  had  elapsed  without  his  hearing  anything 
from  her,  and  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  hy 
meneal  joys  must  have  driven  all  thoughts  of  business 
out  of  her  little  head. 

After  hearing  that  Roberta  March  intended  pro 
tracting  her  stay  in  the  country,  the  desire  came  to 
him  to  go  down  there  himself.  He  would  like  to  have 
the  novel  experience  of  that  region  in  autumn,  and 
he  would  like  to  see  Roberta,  but  he  could  not  help 
acknowledging  to  himself  that  the  proceeding  would 
scarcely  be  a  wise  one,  especially  as  he  must  go  with 
out  the  desired  safeguard  of  knowing  what  kind  of 
man  Miss  March  had  once  been  willing  to  accept.  He 
felt  that  if  he  went  down  to  the  neighborhood  of  Mid- 
branch  one  of  the  battles  of  his  life  would  begin,  and 
that  when  he  held  up  before  him  his  figurative  shield, 
he  would  see  in  its  inner  mirror  that,  on  account  of 
his  own  disposition  towards  the  lady,  he  was  in  a  con 
dition  of  great  peril.  But,  for  all  that,  he  wanted 
very  much  to  go,  and  no  one  will  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  he  did  go. 

He  was  a  little  embarrassed  at  first  in  regard  to  the 
pretext  which  he  should  make  to  himself  for  such  a 
journey.  Whatever  satisfactory  excuse  he  could  make 
to  himself  in  this  case  would,  of  course,  do  for  other 
people.  Although  he  was  not  prone  to  make  excuses 
for  his  conduct  to  other  people  in  general,  he  knew  he 
would  have  to  give  some  reason  to  Mr.  Brandon  and 
Miss  Roberta  for  his  return  to  Virginia  so  soon  after 
having  left  it.  He  determined  to  make  a  visit  to  the 
mountains  of  North  Carolina,  and  as  Midbranch  would 

48 


THE  LATE   MRS.  NULL 

lie  in  his  way,  of  course  he  would  stop  there.  This  he 
assured  himself  was  not  a  subterfuge.  It  was  a  very 
sensible  thing  to  do.  He  had  a  good  deal  of  time  on 
his  hands  before  the  city  season,  at  least  for  him, 
would  begin,  and  he  had  read  that  the  autumn  was  an 
admirable  time  to  visit  the  country  of  the  French 
Broad.  How  long  a  stop  he  would  make  at  Midbranch 
would  be  determined  by  circumstances.  He  was  sorry 
that  he  would  not  be  able  to  look  upon  Miss  Roberta 
with  the  advantage  of  knowing  her  former  lover,  but 
it  was  something  to  know  that  she  had  had  a  lover. 
With  this  fact  in  his  mind  he  would  be  able  to  form 
a  better  estimate  of  her  than  he  had  formed  before. 

The  man  who  lived  in  the  cottage  at  the  Green 
Sulphur  Springs  was  somewhat  surprised  when  Mr. 
Croft  arrived  there,  and  desired  to  make  arrangements, 
as  before,  for  board,  and  the  use  of  a  saddle-horse. 
But,  although  it  was  not  generally  conceded,  this  man 
knew  very  well  that  there  was  no  water  in  the  world 
so  suitable  to  remedy  the  wear  and  tear  of  a  city  life 
as  that  of  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs,  and  therefore 
nobody  could  consider  the  young  gentleman  foolish  for 
coming  back  again  while  the  season  permitted. 

Lawrence  arrived  at  his  cottage  in  the  morning  j  and 
early  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  he  rode  over 
to  Midbranch.  He  found  the  country  a  good  deal 
changed,  and  he  did  not  like  the  changes.  His  road, 
which  ran  for  much  of  its  distance  through  the  woods, 
was  covered  with  leaves,  some  green,  and  some  red  and 
yellow,  and  he  did  not  fancy  the  peculiar  smell  of 
these  leaves,  which  reminded  him,  in  some  way,  of 
that  gathering  together  of  the  characters  in  old-fash 
ioned  comedies  shortly  before  the  fall  of  the  curtain. 

49 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

In  many  places  where  there  used  to  be  a  thick  shade 
the  foliage  was  now  quite  thin,  and  through  it  he 
could  see  a  good  deal  of  the  sky.  The  Virginia 
creepers,  or  poison-oaks,  whichever  they  were,  were 
growing  red  upon  the  trunks  of  the  trees,  as  if  they 
had  been  at  table  too  long  and  showed  it,  and  when 
he  rode  out  of  the  woods  he  saw  that  the  fields,  which 
he  remembered  as  wide,  swelling  slopes  of  green,  with 
cattle  and  colts  feeding  here  and  there,  were  now  being 
ploughed  into  corrugated  stretches  of  monotonous  drab 
and  brown.  If  he  had  been  there  through  all  the 
gradual  changes  of  the  season,  he,  probably,  would 
have  enjoyed  them  as  much  as  people  ordinarily  do ; 
but  coming  back  in  this  way,  the  altered  landscape 
slightly  shocked  him. 

When  he  had  turned  into  the  Midbranch  gate,  but 
was  still  a  considerable  distance  from  the  house,  he 
involuntarily  stopped  his  horse.  He  could  see  the 
broad  steps  which  crossed  the  fence  of  the  lawn,  and 
on  one  side  of  the  platform  on  the  top  sat  a  lady  whom 
he  instantly  recognized  as  Miss  Roberta ;  and  on  the 
other  side  of  the  platform  sat  a  gentleman.  These  two 
occupied  very  much  the  same  positions  as  Lawrence 
himself  and  Miss  March  had  occupied  when  we  first 
became  acquainted  with  them.  Lawrence  looked  very 
sharply  and  earnestly  at  the  gentleman.  Could  it  be 
Mr.  Brandon?  No,  it  was  a  much  younger  person. 

His  first  impulse  was  to  turn  and  ride  away,  but  this 
would  be  silly  and  unmanly,  and  he  continued  his  way 
to  the  stile.  His  disposition  to  treat  the  matter  with 
contempt  made  him  feel  how  important  the  matter 
was  to  him.  The  gentleman  on  the  platform  first  saw 
Lawrence,  and  announced  to  the  lady  that  some  one 

50 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

was  coming.  Miss  March  turned  around,  and  then 
rose  to  her  feet. 

"  Upon  my  word ! "  she  exclaimed,  elevating  her 
eyebrows  a  good  deal  more  than  was  usual  with  her, 
"if  that  isn't  Mr.  Croft!" 

"  Who  is  he  ?  "  asked  the  other,  also  rising. 

"  He  is  a  New  York  gentleman  whom  I  know  very 
well.  He  was  down  here  last  summer,  but  I  can't 
imagine  what  brings  him  here  again." 

Lawrence  dismounted,  tied  his  horse,  and  ap 
proached  the  steps.  Miss  Roberta  welcomed  him 
cordially,  coming  down  a  little  way  to  shake  hands 
with  him.  Then  she  introduced  the  two  gentlemen. 

"  Mr.  Croft,"  she  said,  "  let  me  make  you  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Keswick." 

The  afternoon,  or  the  portion  of  it  that  was  left, 
was  spent  on  the  porch,  Mr.  Brandon  joining  the 
party.  It  was  to  him  that  Lawrence  chiefly  talked, 
for  the  most  part  about  the  game  and  scenery  of  North 
Carolina,  with  which  the  old  gentleman  was  quite 
familiar.  But  Lawrence  had  sufficient  regard  for 
himself  and  his  position  in  the  eyes  of  this  family  to 
help  make  a  good  deal  of  general  conversation.  "What 
he  said  or  heard,  however,  occupied  only  the  extreme 
corners  of  his  mind,  the  main  portion  of  which  was 
entirely  filled  with  the  chilling  fear  that  that  man 
might  be  the  Keswick  he  was  looking  for.  Of  course, 
there  was  a  bare  chance  that  it  was  not,  for  there 
might  be  a  numerous  family,  but  even  this  little 
stupid  glimmer  of  comfort  was  extinguished  when 
Mr.  Brandon  familiarly  addressed  the  gentleman  as 
"  Junius." 

Lawrence  took  a  good  look  at  the  man  he  was 

51 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

anxious  to  study,  and  as  far  as  outward  appearances 
were  concerned  he  could  find  no  fault  with  Roberta 
for  having  accepted  him.  He  was  taller  than  Croft, 
and  not  so  correctly  dressed.  He  seemed  to  be  a 
person  whom  one  would  select  as  a  companion  for  a 
hunt,  a  sail,  or  a  talk  upon  political  economy.  There 
was  about  him  an  air  of  present  laziness,  but  it  was  also 
evident  that  this  was  a  disposition  that  could  easily  be 
thrown  off. 

Lawrence's  mind  was  not  only  very  much  occupied, 
but  very  much  perturbed.  It  must  have  been  all  a 
mistake  about  the  engagement  having  been  broken 
off.  If  this  had  been  the  case,  the  easy  friendliness  of 
the  relations  between  Keswick  and  the  old  gentleman 
and  his  niece  would  have  been  impossible.  Once  or 
twice  the  thought  came  to  Lawrence  that  he  should 
congratulate  himself  for  not  having  avowed  his  feelings 
towards  Miss  Roberta  when  he  had  an  opportunity  of 
doing  so  5  but  his  predominant  emotion  was  one  of 
disgust  with  his  previous  mode  of  action.  If  he  had 
not  weighed  and  considered  the  matter  so  carefully, 
and  had  been  willing  to  take  his  chances  as  other  men 
take  them,  he  would,  at  least,  have  known  in  what 
relation  he  stood  to  Roberta,  and  would  not  have 
occupied  the  ridiculous  position  in  which  he  now  felt 
himself  to  be. 

When  he  took  his  leave,  Roberta  went  with  him  to 
the  stile.  As  they  walked  together  across  the  smooth, 
short  grass,  a  new  set  of  emotions  arose  in  Lawrence's 
mind  which  drove  out  every  other.  They  were  grief, 
chagrin,  and  even  rage,  at  not  having  won  this  woman. 
As  to  actual  speech,  there  was  nothing  he  could  say, 
although  his  soul  boiled  and  bubbled  within  him  in 

52 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

his  desire  to  speak.  But  if  lie  had  anything  to  say, 
now  was  his  chance,  for  he  had  told  them  that  he 
would  proceed  with  his  journey  the  next  day. 

Miss  Roberta  had  a  way  of  looking  up  and  looking 
down  at  the  same  time,  particularly  when  she  had 
asked  a  question  and  was  waiting  for  the  answer.  Her 
face  would  be  turned  a  little  down,  but  her  eyes  would 
look  up  and  give  a  very  charming  expression  to  those 
upturned  eyes ;  and  if  she  happened  to  allow  the  smile 
with  which  she  ceased  speaking  to  remain  upon  her 
pretty  lips,  she  generally  had  an  answer  of  some  sort 
very  soon.  If  for  no  other  reason,  it  would  be  given 
that  she  might  ask  another  question.  It  was  in  this 
manner  she  said  to  Lawrence  :  "  Do  you  really  go  away 
from  us  to-morrow  1 " 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "I  shall  push  on." 

"  Do  you  not  find  the  country  very  beautiful  at  this 
season?"  asked  Miss  Eoberta,  after  a  few  steps  in 
silence. 

"I  don't  like  autumn,"  answered  Lawrence. 
"  Everything  is  drying  up  and  dying.  I  would  rather 
see  things  dead." 

Roberta  looked  at  him  without  turning  her  head. 
"  But  it  will  be  just  as  bad  in  North  Carolina,"  she  said. 

"There  is  an  autumn  in  ourselves,"  he  answered, 
"just  as  much  as  there  is  in  nature.  I  won't  see  so 
much  of  that  down  there." 

"In  some  cases,"  said  Roberta,  slowly,  "autumn  is 
impossible." 

They  had  reached  the  bottom  of  the  steps,  and  Law 
rence  turned  and  looked  towards  her.  "  Do  you  mean," 
he  asked,  "when  there  has  been  no  real  summer1?" 

Roberta  laughed.     "  Of  course,"  said  she,  "  if  there 
53 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

has  been  no  summer  there  can  be  no  autumn.  But 
you  know  there  are  places  where  it  is  summer  all  the 
time.  Would  you  like  to  live  in  such  a  clime  ?  " 

Lawrence  Croft  put  one  foot  on  the  step,  and  then 
he  drew  it  back.  "  Miss  March,"  said  he,  "  my  train 
does  not  leave  until  the  afternoon,  and  I  am  coming 
over  here  in  the  morning  to  have  one  more  walk  in 
the  woods  with  you.  May  I  ?  " 

"Certainly,"  she  said;  "I  shall  be  delighted;  that 
is,  if  you  can  overlook  the  fact  that  it  is  autumn." 

When  Miss  Roberta  returned  to  the  house  she  found 
Junius  Keswick  sitting  on  a  bench  on  the  porch.  She 
went  over  to  him,  and  took  a  seat  at  the  other  end  of 
the  bench. 

"  So  your  gentleman  is  gone,"  he  said. 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  "but  only  for  the  present. 
He  is  coming  back  in  the  morning." 

"What  for?"  asked  Keswick,  a  little  abruptly. 

Miss  Eoberta  took  off  her  hat,  for  there  was  no  need 
of  a  hat  on  a  shaded  porch,  and  holding  it  by  the 
ribbons,  she  let  it  gently  slide  down  towards  her  feet. 
"  He  is  coming,"  she  said,  speaking  rather  slowly,  "  to 
take  a  walk  with  me,  and  I  know  very  well  that  when 
we  have  reached  some  place  where  he  is  sure  there  is 
no  one  to  hear  him,  he  is  going  to  tell  me  that  he  loves 
me ;  that  he  did  not  intend  to  speak  quite  so  soon,  but 
that  circumstances  have  made  it  impossible  for  him  to 
restrain  himself  any  longer,  and  he  will  ask  me  to  be 
his  wife." 

"  And  what  are  you  going  to  say  to  him  ?  "  asked 
Keswick. 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Eoberta,  her  eyes  fixed  upon 
the  hat,  which  she  still  held  by  its  long  ribbons. 

54 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

The  next  morning  Junius  Keswick,  who  had  been 
up  a  long,  long  time  before  breakfast,  sat,  after  that 
meal,  looking  at  Roberta,  who  was  reading  a  book  in 
the  parlor.  "  She  is  a  strange  girl,"  thought  he.  "  I 
cannot  understand  her.  How  is  it  possible  that  she 
can  sit  there  so  placidly  reading  that  volume  of  Hux 
ley,  which  I  know  she  never  saw  before  and  which  she 
has  opened  just  about  the  middle,  on  a  morning  when 
she  is  expecting  a  man  who  will  say  things  to  her  which 
may  change  her  whole  life  ?  I  could  almost  imagine 
that  she  has  forgotten  all  about  it." 

Peggy?  who  had  just  entered  the  room  to  inform  her 
mistress  that  Aunt  Judy  was  ready  for  her,  stood  in 
rigid  uprightness,  her  torpid  eyes  settled  upon  the 
lady.  "I  reckon,"  so  ran  the  thought  within  the 
mazes  of  her  dark  little  interior,  "  dat  Miss  Rob's  wus 
disgruntled  dan  she  was  dat  ebenin'  when  I  make  my 
cake,  fur  she  got  two  difent  kinds  o'  shoes  on." 

The  morning  went  on,  and  Keswick  found  that  he 
must  go  out  again  for  a  walk,  although  he  had  rambled 
several  miles  before  breakfast.  After  her  household 
duties  had  been  completed,  Miss  Roberta  took  her  book 
out  to  the  porch ;  and  about  noon,  when  her  uncle 
came  out  and  made  some  remarks  upon  the  beauty  of 
the  day,  she  turned  over  the  page  at  which  she  had 
opened  the  volume  j ust  after  breakfast.  An  hour  later 
Peggy  brought  her  some  luncheon,  and  felt  it  to  be  her 
duty  to  inform  Miss  Rob  that  she  still  wore  one  old 
boot  and  a  new  one.  When  Roberta  returned  to  the 
porch  after  making  a  suitable  change,  she  found  Kes 
wick  there,  looking  a  little  tired. 

"  Has  your  friend  gone  !  "  he  asked,  in  a  very  quiet 
tone. 

55 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  He  has  not  come  yet/7  she  answered. 

"  Not  come  ! "  exclaimed  Keswick.  "  That's  odd ! 
However,  there  are  two  hours  yet  before  dinner." 

The  two  hours  passed  and  no  Lawrence  Croft  ap 
peared;  nor  came  he  at  all  that  day.  About  dusk 
the  man  at  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs  rode  over  with 
a  note  from  Mr.  Croft.  The  note  was  to  Miss  March,  of 
course,  and  it  simply  stated  that  the  writer  was  very 
sorry  he  could  not  keep  the  appointment  he  had  made 
with  her,  but  that  it  had  suddenly  become  necessary 
for  him  to  return  to  the  North  without  continuing  the 
journey  he  had  planned  ;  that  he  was  much  grieved  to 
be  deprived  of  the  opportunity  of  seeing  her  again  j 
but  that  he  would  give  himself  the  pleasure, » at  the 
earliest  possible  moment,  of  calling  on  Miss  March 
when  she  arrived  in  New  York. 

When  Miss  Roberta  had  read  this  note  she  handed 
it  to  Keswick,  who,  when  he  returned  it,  asked  :  "  Does 
that  suit  you  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  she,  "  it  does  not  suit  me  at  all." 


CHAPTER  VI 

IT  was  mail-day  at  the  very  small  village  known  as 
Hewlett's,  and  to  the  fence  in  front  of  the  post-office 
were  attached  three  mules  and  a  horse.  Inside  the 
yard,  tied  to  the  low  bough  of  a  tree,  was  a  very  lean 
and  melancholy  horse,  on  which  had  lately  arrived 
"Wesley  Green,  the  negro  man  who,  twice  a  week, 
brought  the  mail  from  Pocahontas,  a  railway-station 
twenty  miles  away.  There  was  a  station  not  six  miles 
from  Hewlett's,  but,  for  some  reason,  the  mail-bag 
was  always  brought  from  and  carried  to  Pocahontas ; 
Wesley  Green  requiring  a  whole  day  for  a  deliberate 
transit  between  the  two  points. 

In  the  post-office,  which  was  the  front  room  of  a 
small  wooden  house  approached  by  a  high  flight  of 
steps,  was  the  postmistress,  Miss  Harriet  Corvey,  who 
sat  on  the  floor  in  one  corner,  while  before  her  ex 
tended  a  semicircle  of  men  and  boys.  In  this  little  as 
semblage  certain  elderly  men  occupied  seats  which 
were  considered  to  belong  to  them  quite  as  much  as  if 
they  had  been  hired  pews  in  a  church,  and  behind 
them  stood  up  a  row  of  tall  young  men  and  bare 
footed  boys  of  the  neighborhood,  while  farthest  in 
the  rear  were  some  quiet  little  darkies  with  mail- 
bags  slung  across  their  shoulders. 

57 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

On  a  chair  to  the  right,  and  most  convenient  to  Miss 
Harriet,  sat  old  Madison  Chalkley,  the  biggest  and 
most  venerable  citizen  of  the  neighborhood.  Mr. 
Chalkley  never,  by  any  chance,  got  a  letter,  the  only 
mail-matter  he  received  being  the  "  Southern  Baptist 
Kecorder,"  which  came  on  Saturdays,  but,  like  most 
of  the  people  present,  he  was  at  the  post-office  every 
mail- day  to  see  who  got  anything.  Next  to  him  sat 
Colonel  Iston,  a  tall,  lean,  quiet  old  gentleman,  who 
had,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  occupied  the  position  of 
a  last  apple  on  a  tree.  He  had  no  relatives,  no  friends 
with  whom  he  corresponded,  no  business  that  was  not 
conducted  by  word  of  mouth.  In  the  last  fifteen  years 
he  had  received  but  one  letter,  and  that  had  so  sur 
prised  him  that  he  carried  it  about  with  him  three 
days  before  he  opened  it,  and  then  he  found  that  it 
was  really  intended  for  a  gentleman  of  the  same  name 
in  another  county.  And  yet  everybody  knew  that  if 
Colonel  Iston  failed  to  appear  in  his  place  on  mail-day,  it 
would  be  because  he  was  dead  or  prostrated  by  sickness. 

With  the  mail-bag  on  the  floor  at  her  left,  Miss 
Harriet,  totally  oblivious  of  any  law  forbidding  the 
opening  of  the  mails  in  public,  would  put  her  hand 
into  its  open  mouth,  draw  forth  a  letter  or  a  paper, 
hold  it  up  in  front  of  her  spectacles,  and  call  out  the 
name  of  its  owner.  Most  of  the  letters  went  to  the 
black  boys  with  the  mail-bags  who  came  from  country 
houses  in  the  neighborhood,  but  whoever  received 
letter,  journal,  or  agricultural  circular,  received  also 
at  the  same  time  the  earnest  gaze  of  everybody  else  in 
the  room.  Sometimes  there  was  a  letter  for  which 
there  was  no  applicant  present,  and  then  Miss  Harriet 
would  say :  "  Is  anybody  going  past  Mrs.  Willis  Sum- 

58 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

mersesT'  And  if  anybody  was,  he  would  take  the 
letter,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  he  remembered  to  deliver 
it  in  the  course  of  a  week. 

In  spite  of  the  precautions  of  the  postmistress,  un 
called-for  letters  would  gradually  accumulate,  and 
there  was  a  little  bundle  of  these  in  one  of  the  few 
pigeonholes  in  a  small  desk  in  the  corner  of  the  room, 
in  the  drawer  of  which  the  postage-stamps  were  kept. 
Now  and  then  a  registered  letter  would  arrive,  and 
this  always  created  considerable  sensation  in  the  room, 
and  if  the  legal  recipient  did  not  happen  to  be  present, 
Miss  Harriet  never  breathed  a  quiet  breath  until  he 
or  she  had  been  sent  for,  had  taken  the  letter,  and 
given  her  a  receipt.  Sometimes  she  sat  up  as  late  as 
eleven  o'clock  at  night  on  mail- days,  hoping  that  some 
one  who  had  been  sent  for  would  arrive  to  relieve  her 
of  a  registered  letter. 

All  the  mail-matter  had  been  distributed,  everybody 
but  Mr.  Madison  Chalkley  had  left  the  room ;  and  when 
the  old  gentleman,  as  was  his  wont  on  the  first  day  of 
the  month,  had  gone  up  to  the  desk,  untied  the  bundle 
of  uncalled-for  letters,  the  outer  ones  permanently 
rounded  by  the  tightness  of  the  cord,  and  after  care 
fully  looking  over  them,  one  by  one,  had  made  his 
usual  remark  about  the  folly  of  people  who  wouldn't 
stay  in  a  place  until  their  letters  could  get  to  them, 
had  tied  up  the  bundle  and  taken  his  departure  ;  then 
Miss  Harriet  put  the  empty  mail-bag  under  the  desk, 
and  went  up -stairs,  where  an  old  lady  sat  by  the  win 
dow,  sewing  in  the  fading  light. 

"  No  letters  for  you  to-day,  Mrs.  Keswick,"  said  she. 

"  Of  course  not,"  was  the  answer  ;  "  I  didn't  expect 
any." 

59 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Don't  you  think,"  said  Miss  Harriet,  taking  a  seat 
opposite  the  old  lady,  "  that  it  is  about  time  for  you 
to  go  home  and  attend  to  your  affairs  ?  " 

"  Well,  upon  my  word ! "  said  Mrs.  Keswick,  let 
ting  her  hands  and  her  work  fall  in  her  lap,  "that's 
truly  hospitable.  I  didn't  expect  it  of  you,  Harriet 
Corvey." 

"  I  wouldn't  have  said  it,"  returned  the  postmistress, 
"  if  I  hadn't  felt  dead  certain  that  you  knew  you  were 
always  welcome  here.  But  Tony  Miles  told  me,  just 
before  the  mail  came  in,  that  the  lady  who's  at  your 
place  is  running  it  herself,  and  that  she's  going  to  use 
pickle  brine  for  a  fertilizer." 

"Very  likely,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick,  her  face  totally 
unmoved  by  this  intelligence,— "very  likely.  That's 
the  way  they  used  to  do  in  ancient  times,  or  some 
thing  of  the  same  kind.  They  used  to  sow  salt  over 
their  enemy's  land  so  that  nothing  would  ever  grow 
there.  That  woman's  family  has  sowed  salt  over  the 
lands  of  me  and  mine  for  three  generations,  and  it's 
quite  natural  she  should  come  here  to  finish  up." 

There  was  a  little  silence  after  this,  and  then  Miss 
Harriet  remarked :  "  Your  people  must  know  where 
you  are.  Why  don't  they  come  and  tell  you  about 
these  things  ?  " 

"  They  know  better,"  answered  Mrs.  Keswick,  with 
a  grim  smile.  "  I  went  away  once  before,  and  Uncle 
Isham  hunted  me  up,  and  he  got  a  lesson  that  he'll 
never  forget.  When  I  want  them  to  know  where  I 
am,  I'll  tell  them." 

"But  really  and  truly,"  said  Miss  Harriet,— "and 
you  know  I  only  speak  to  you  for  your  own  good,  for 
you  pay  your  board  here,  and  if  you  didn't  you'd  be 

60 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

just  as  welcome,— do  you  intend  to  keep  away  from 
your  own  house  as  long  as  that  lady  chooses  to  stay 
there?" 

"  Exactly  so  long,"  answered  the  old  lady.  "  I  shall 
not  keep  them  out  of  my  house  if  they  choose  to  come 
to  it*  No  member  of  my  family  ever  did  that.  There 
is  the  house,  and  they  are  free  to  enter  it,  but  they 
shall  not  find  me  there.  If  there  was  any  reason  to 
believe  that  everything  was  dropped  and  done  with, 
I  would  be  as  glad  to  see  him  as  anybody  could  be,  but 
I  knew  from  his  letter  just  what  he  was  going  to  sa> 
when  he  came,  and  as  things  have  turned  out,  I  see 
that  it  was  all  worse  than  I  expected.  He  and  Bo- 
berta  March  were  both  coming,  and  they  thought  that 
together  they  could  talk  me  down,  and  make  me  for 
give  and  be  happy,  and  all  that  stuff.  Bv'  as  I  wasn't 
there,  of  course  he  wouldn't  stay,  and  sr  there  she  is 
now  by  herself.  She  thinks  I  must  come-  home  after  a 
while,  and  the  minute  I  do  that,  back  hs'll  come,  and 
then  they'll  have  just  what  they  want.  But  I  reckon 
she'll  find  that  I  can  stick  it  out  just  as  long  as  she  c&^u 
If  Roberta  March  turns  things  upside  down  there,  it'll 
be  because  she  can't  keep  her  hands  out  of  mischief, 
and  that  proves  that  she  belongs  to  her  own  family. 
If  there's  any  harm  done,  it  don't  matter  so  much  to 
me,  and  it  will  be  worse  for  him  in  the  end.  And 
now,  Harriet  Corvey,  if  you've  got  to  make  up  the 
mail  to  go  away  early  in  the  morning,  you'd  better 
have  supper  over  and  get  about  it." 

Meanwhile,  at  Mrs.  Keswick's  house  Mrs.  Null  was 
acting  just  as  conscientiously  as  she  knew  how.  She 
had  had  some  conversations  with  Freddy  on  the  sub 
ject,  and  she  had  assured  him,  and  at  the  same  time 

61 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

herself,  that  what  she  was  doing  was  the  only  thing 
that  could  be  done.  "  It  was  dreadfully  hard  for  me 
to  get  the  money  to  come  down  here,"  she  said  to  him, 
— "  you  not  helping  me  a  bit,  as  ordinary  husbands  do, 
—and  I  can't  afford  to  go  back  until  I  have  accom 
plished  something.  It's  very  strange  that  she  stays 
away  so  long,  without  telling  anybody  where  she  has 
gone  to,  but  I  know  she  is  queer,  and  I  suppose  she  has 
her  own  reasons  for  what  she  does.  She  can't  be  stay 
ing  away  on  my  account,  for  she  doesn't  know  who  I 
am,  and  wouldn't  have  any  objections  to  me  if  she  did 
know.  I  suspect  it  is  something  about  Junius  which 
keeps  her  away,  and  I  suppose  she  thinks  he  is  still 
here.  But  one  of  them  must  soon  come  back,  and  if  I 
can  see  him,  or  find  out  from  her  where  he  is,  it  will 
be  all  right.  It  seems  to  me,  Freddy,  that  if  I  could 
have  a  good  talk  with  Junius  things  would  begin  to 
look  better  for  you  and  me.  And  then  I  want  to  put 
him  on  his  guard  about  this  gentleman  who  is  looking 
for  him.  By  the  way,  I  suppose  I  ought  to  write  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Croft,  or  he'll  think  I  have  given  up  the 
job,  and  will  set  somebody  else  on  the  track,  and  that 
is  what  I  don't  want  him  to  do.  I  can't  say  that  I 
have  positively  anything  to  report,  but  I  can  say  that 
I  have  strong  hopes  of  success,  considering  where  I  am. 
As  soon  as  I  found  that  Junius  had  really  left  the 
North,  I  concluded  that  this  would  be  the  best  place 
to  come  to  for  him.  And  now,  Freddy,  there's  nothing 
for  us  to  do  but  to  wait,  and  if  we  can  make  ourselves 
useful  here  I'm  sure  we  will  be  glad  to  do  it.  We 
both  hate  being  lazy,  and  a  little  housekeeping  and 
farm-managing  will  be  good  practice  for  us  during  our 
honeymoon.'7 

62 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Putting  on  her  hat,  she  went  down  into  the  garden 
where  Uncle  Isham  was  at  work.  She  could  find  little 
to  do  there,  for  he  was  merely  pulling  turnips,  and  she 
could  see  nothing  to  suggest  in  regard  to  his  method 
of  work.  She  had  found,  too,  that  the  old  negro  had 
not  much  respect  for  her  agricultural  opinions.  He 
attended  to  his  work  as  if  his  mistress  had  been  at 
home,  and  although,  in  regard  to  the  ploughing,  he 
had  carried  out  the  orders  of  Mrs.  Null,  he  had  done 
it  because  it  ought  to  be  done,  and  because  he  was 
very  glad  for  some  one  else  to  take  the  responsibility. 

"  Uncle  Isham,"  said  she,  after  she  had  watched  the 
process  of  turnip-pulling  for  a  few  minutes,  "  if  you 
haven't  anything  else  to  do  when  you  get  through 
with  this,  you  might  come  up  to  the  house,  and  I  will 
talk  to  you  about  the  flower-beds.  I  suppose  they 
ought  to  be  made  ready  for  the  winter." 

"  Miss  Null,"  said  the  old  man,  slowly  unbending  his 
back,  and  getting  himself  upright,  "  dar's  allus  sumfin 
else  to  do.  Ebber  sence  I  was  fus'  bawn  dar  was  sum- 
fin  else  to  do,  an7  I  'spec's  it'll  keep  on  dat  ar  way  till 
de  day  I  dies." 

"  Of  course  there  will  be  nothing  else  to  do  then  but 
to  die,"  observed  Mrs.  Null ;  "  but  I  hope  that  day  is 
far  off,  Uncle  Isham." 

"Dunno  'bout  dat,  Miss  Null,"  said  he.  "But  den 
some  people  do  lib  dreffle  long.  Look  at  ole  Aun' 
Patsy.  I'se  got  to  lib  a  long  time  afore  I'se  as  ole  as 
Aun'  Patsy  is  now." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Null, 
"  that  Aunt  Patsy  is  alive  yet ! " 

"Ob  course  she  is,  Miss  Null,"  said  Uncle  Isham. 
"If  she'd  died  sence  you've  been  here  we'd  'a'  tole 

63 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

you,  sartin.  She  was  gwine  to  die  las'  week,  but  two 
or  free  days  don'  make  much  difrence  to  Aun'  Patsy, 
she  done  lib  so  long  anyhow.'7 

"  Aunt  Patsy  alive ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Null  again. 
"  I'm  going  straight  off  to  see  her." 

When  she  had  reached  the  house,  and  had  informed 
Letty  where  she  was  going,  the  rotund  maid  expressed 
high  approbation  of  the  visit,  and  offered  to  send  Plez 
to  show  Mrs.  Null  the  way. 

"I  don't  need  any  one  to  go  with  me,"  said  that 
lady,  and  away  she  started. 

"  She  don'  nebber  want  nobody  to  show  her  nowhar," 
said  Plez,  returning  with  looks  of  much  disapprobation 
to  his  business  of  peeling  potatoes  for  dinner. 

When  Mrs.  Null  reached  the  cabin  of  Aunt  Patsy, 
after  about  fifteen  minutes'  walk,  she  entered  without 
ceremony,  and  found  the  old  woman  sitting  on  a  very 
low  chair  by  the  window,  with  the  much-talked-of, 
many-colored  quilt  in  her  lap.  Her  white  woolly  head 
was  partially  covered  with  a  red-and-yellow  handker 
chief,  and  an  immense  pair  of  iron-bound  spectacles 
obstructed  the  view  of  her  small  black  face,  lined  and 
seamed  in  such  a  way  that  it  appeared  to  have  shrunk 
to  half  its  former  size.  In  her  long,  bony  fingers,  rusty 
black  on  the  outside  and  a  very  pale  tan  on  the  inside, 
she  held  a  coarse  needle  and  thread  and  a  corner  of 
the  quilt.  Near  by,  in  front  of  a  brick-paved  fire 
place,  was  one  of  her  great-granddaughters,  a  girl  about 
eighteen  years  old,  who  was  down  upon  her  hands  and 
knees,  engaged  with  lungs,  more  powerful  than  ordinary 
bellows,  in  blowing  into  flame  a  coal  upon  the  hearth. 

"How  d'ye,  Aunt  Patsy?"  said  Mrs.  Null.  "I 
didn't  expect  to  see  you  looking  so  well." 

64 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"Dat's  Miss  Null,"  said  the  girl,  raising  her  eyes 
from  the  fire,  and  addressing  her  ancestor. 

The  old  woman  stuck  her  needle  into  the  quilt,  and 
reached  out  her  hand  to  her  visitor,  who  took  it  cor 
dially.  >• 

"How  d'ye,  miss?"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  in  a  thin  but 
quite  firm  voice,  while  the  young  woman  got  up  and 
brought  Mrs.  Null  a  chair,  very  short  in  the  legs,  very 
high  in  the  back,  and  with  its  split- oak  bottom  very 
much  sunken. 

"How  are  you  feeling  to-day,  Aunt  Patsy?"  asked 
Mrs.  Null,  gazing  with  much  interest  on  the  aged 
face. 

"'Bout  as  common,"  replied  the  old  woman.  "I 
didn't  'spec'  to  be  libin'  dis  week,  but  I  ain't  got  my 
quilt  done  yit,  an'  I  can't  go  'mong  de  angels  wrop  in 
a  shroud  wid  one  corner  off." 

"Certainly  not,"  answered  Mrs.  Null.  "Haven't 
you  pieces  enough  to  finish  it !  " 

"Oh,  yaas,  I  got  bits  enough,  but  de  trouble  is  to 
sew  'em  up.  I  can't  sew  very  fas'  nowadays." 

"  It's  a  pity  for  you  to  have  to  do  it  yourself,"  said 
Mrs.  Null.  "  Can't  this  young  person,  your  daughter, 
do  it  for  you  ?  " 

"  Dat's  not  my  darter,"  said  the  old  woman.  "  Dat's 
my  son  Tom's  yaller  boy  Bob's  chile.  Bob's  dead. 
She  can't  do  no  sewin'  for  me.  I'm  not  gwine  ter  hab 
folks  sayin'  Aun'  Patsy  done  got  so  ole  she  can't  do  her 
own  sewin'." 

"  If  you  are  not  going  to  die  till  you  get  your  quilt 
finished,  Aunt  Patsy,"  said  Mrs.  Null,  "  I  hope  it  won't 
be  done  for  a  long  time." 

"  Don'  do  to  be  waitin'  too  long,  miss.  De  fas'  thing 
65 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

you  know  some  oder  cullud  pusson'll  be  dyin'  wrop 
up  in  a  quilt  like  dis,  and  git  dar  fus'." 

Mrs.  Null  now  looked  about  her  with  much  interest, 
and  asked  many  questions  in  regard  to  the  old  woman's 
comfort  and  ailments.  To  these  the  answers,  though 
on  the  whole  satisfactory,  were  quite  short,  Aunt  Patsy, 
apparently,  much  preferring  to  look  at  her  visitor  than 
to  talk  to  her.  And  a  very  pretty  young  woman  she 
was  to  look  at,  with  a  face  which  had  grown  brighter 
and  plumper  during  every  day  of  her  country  sojourn. 

When  Mrs.  Null  had  gone,  promising  to  send  Aunt 
Patsy  something  nice  to  eat,  the  old  woman  turned  to 
her  great-granddaughter,  and  said :  "  Did  anybody 
come  wid  her  ?  " 

"  Nobody  corned,"  said  the  girl.  "  Eeckon  she  done 
git  herse'f  los'  some  o'  dese  days." 

The  old  woman  made  no  answer,  but  folding  up  the 
maniac  coverlet,  she  handed  it  to  the  girl,  and  told 
her  to  put  it  away. 

That  night  Uncle  Isham,  by  Mrs.  Null's  orders,  car 
ried  to  Aunt  Patsy  a  basket  containing  various  good 
things  considered  suitable  for  an  aged  colored  woman 
without  teeth. 

"  Miss  Annie  sen'  dese  h'yar  ?  "  asked  the  old  woman, 
taking  the  basket  and  lifting  the  lid. 

"Miss  Annie!"  exclaimed  Uncle  Isham.  "Who 
she?" 

"  Git  out,  Uncle  Isham  ! "  said  Aunt  Patsy,  somewhat 
impatiently.  "  She  was  h'yar  dis  mawnin'." 

"  Dat  was  Miss  Null,"  said  Isham. 

"  Miss  Annie  all  de  same,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  "  on'y 
growed  up  an'  married.  D'ye  mean  to  stan'  dar, 
Uncle  Isham,  an'  tell  me  you  don'  know  de  little  gal 

66 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

wot  Hafts'  John  use  ter  carry  in  he  arms  ter  feed  de 
tukkies?" 

"  She  and  she  mudder  dead  long  ago/7  said  Isham. 
"You  is  pow'ful  ole,  Aun'  Patsy,  an'  you  done  forgit 
dese  things." 

"  Done  forgit  iiuffin,"  curtly  replied  the  old  woman. 
"Don'  tell  me  no  mo'  fool  stuff.  Dat  Miss  Annie, 
growed  up  an'  married." 

"Did  she  tell  you  daU"  asked  Isham. 

"  She  didn't  tell  me  nuffin.  She  kep'  her  mouf  shet 
'bout  dat,  an'  I  kep'  my  mouf  shet.  Don'  talk  to  me  ! 
Dat's  Miss  Annie,  shuh  as  shootin'.  Ef  she  hadn't  fotch 
nuffin  'long  wid  her  but  her  eyes  I'd  'a'  knowed  dem  ; 
same  ole  eyes  dey  all  had.  An',  'sides  dat,  you  fool 
Isham,  ef  she  not  Miss  Annie,  wot  she  come  down  h'yar 
fur?" 

"  Nebber  thinked  o'  dat ! "  said  Uncle  Isham,  reflec 
tively.  l i  Ef  you's  so  pow'ful  shuh,  Ann'  Patsy,  I  reckon 
dat  is  Miss  Annie.  Couldn't  'spec'  me  to  'member  her. 
I  wasn't  much  up  at  de  house  in  dem  times,  an'  she 
was  took  away  'fore  I  give  much  'tention  ter  her." 

"Don'  ole  miss  know  she  daH"  asked  Aunt  Patsy. 

"She  dunno  nuffin  'bout  it,"  answered  Isham. 
"She's  stay  in'  away  cos  she  think  Mahs'  Junius  dar 
yit." 

"  Why  don'  you  tell  her,  now  you  knows  it's  Miss 
Annie  wot's  dar  1 " 

"  You  don'  ketch  me  tellin'  her  nuffin,"  replied  the 
old  man,  shaking  his  head.  "  Wish  you  was  spry  'nuf 
ter  go,  Ann'  Patsy.  She'd  b'lieve  you ;  an'  she  couldn't 
r'ar  an'  charge  inter  a  ole  pusson  like  you,  nohow." 

"  Ain't  dar  nobody  else  in  dis  h'yar  place  to  go  tell 
her?"  asked  Aunt  Patsy. 

67 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Not  a  pusson,"  was  Isham's  decided  answer. 

"  Well,  den,  I  is  spry  'nuf ! "  exclaimed  Aunt  Patsy, 
rith  a  vigorous  nod  of  her  head  which  sent  her  spec 
tacles  down  to  her  mouth,  displaying  a  pair  of  little 
eyes  sparkling  with  a  fire  long  thought  to  be  extinct. 
"  Ef  you'll  carry  me  dar,  to  Miss  Harriet  Corvey's,  I'll 
tell  ole  miss  myse'f.  I  didn't  'spec'  to  go  out  dat  dohr 
till  de  friu'ral,  but  I'll  go  dis  time.  I  'spected  dar  was 
sumfin  crooked  when  Miss  Annie  didn't  tole  me  who 
she  was.  I'se  not  'feared  to  tell  ole  miss,  an'  you  jes 
carry  me  up  dar,  Uncle  Isham." 

"  I'll  do  dat,"  said  the  old  man,  much  delighted  with 
the  idea  of  doing  something  which  he  supposed  would 
remove  the  clouds  which  overhung  the  household  of 
his  mistress.  "  I'll  fotch  de  hoss  an'  de  spring- waggin, 
an'  dribe  you  ober  dar." 

"  No,  you  don'  do  no  sech  thing ! "  exclaimed  Aunt 
Patsy,  angrily.  "  I  ain't  gwine  to  hab  no  hosses  to  run 
away  an'  chuck  me  out  on  de  road.  Ef  you  kin  fotch 
de  oxen  an'  de  cart,  I  go  'long  wid  you,  but  I  don' 
want  no  hosses." 

"  Dat's  fas' -rate,"  said  Isham.  "  I'll  fotch  de  ox-cart, 
an'  carry  you  ober.  When  you  want  ter  go  ?  " 

"Dunno  jes  now,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  pushing  away  a 
block  of  wood  which  served  for  a  footstool,  and  mak 
ing  elaborate  preparations  to  rise  from  her  chair. 
"  I'll  sen'  fur  you  when  I'se  ready." 

The  next  morning  was  a  very  busy  one  for  Aunt 
Patsy's  son  Tom's  yellow  boy  Bob's  child ;  and  by 
afternoon  it  was  necessary  to  send  for  two  colored 
women  from  a  neighboring  cabin  to  assist  in  the  prep 
arations  which  Aunt  Patsy  was  making  for  her  pro 
jected  visit.  An  old  hair-covered  trunk,  which  had 

68 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

not  been  opened  for  many  years,  was  brought  out,  and 
the  contents  exposed  to  the  unaccustomed  light  of 
day  ,•  two  coarse  cotton  petticoats  were  exhumed  and 
ordered  to  be  bleached  and  ironed ;  a  yellow-flannel 
garment  of  the  same  nature  was  put  aside  to  be  mended 
with  some  red  pieces  which  were  rolled  up  in  it ;  out 
of  several  yarn  stockings  of  various  ages  and  lengths 
two  were  selected  as  being  pretty  much  alike,  and  laid 
by  to  be  darned  ;  an  old  black  frock  with  full  "  bishop 
sleeves,"  a  good  deal  mended  and  dreadfully  wrinkled, 
was  given  to  one  of  the  neighbors,  expert  in  such 
matters,  to  be  ironed ;  and  the  propriety  of  making 
use  of  various  other  ancient  duds  was  eagerly  and 
earnestly  discussed.  Aunt  Patsy,  whose  vitality  had 
been  wonderfully  aroused,  now  that  there  was  some 
opportunity  for  making  use  of  it,  spent  nearly  two 
hours  turning  over,  examining,  and  reflecting  upon  a 
pair  of  old-fashioned  corsets,  which,  although  they 
had  been  long  cherished,  she  had  never  worn.  She 
now  hoped  that  the  occasion  for  their  use  had  at  last 
arrived,  but  the  utter  impossibility  of  getting  herself 
into  them  was  finally  made  apparent  to  her,  and  she 
mournfully  returned  them  to  the  trunk. 

Washing,  starching,  ironing,  darning,  patching,  and 
an  immense  deal  of  talk  and  consultation,  occupied 
that  and  a  good  deal  of  the  following  day,  the  rest  of 
which  was  given  up  to  the  repairing  of  an  inrmrien.se 
pair  of  green-baize  shoes,  without  which  Aunt  Patsy 
could  not  be  persuaded  to  go  into  the  outer  air.  It 
was  Saturday  morning  when  she  began  to  dress  for  the 
trip,  and  although  Isham,  wearing  a  high  silk  hat,  and 
a  long  black  coat  which  had  once  belonged  to  a  clergy 
man,  arrived  with  the  ox-cart  about  noon,  the  old 

69 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

woman  was  not  ready  to  start  till  two  or  three  hours 
afterwards.  Her  assistants,  who  had  increased  in 
number,  were  active  and  assiduous.  Aunt  Patsy  was 
very  particular  as  to  the  manner  of  her  garbing,  and 
gave  them  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  It  had  been  fifteen 
years  since  she  had  set  foot  outside  of  her  house,  and 
ten  more  since  she  had  ridden  in  any  kind  of  vehicle. 
This  was  a  great  occasion,  and  nothing  concerning  it 
was  to  be  considered  lightly. 

"'Tain't  right,"  she  said  to  Uncle  Isham,  when  he 
arrived,  "  fur  a  pow'ful  ole  pusson  like  me  to  set  out 
on  a  jarney  ob  dis  kin7  'thout  'ligious  sarvices.  'Tain't 
'spectable." 

Uncle  Isham  rubbed  his  head  a  good  deal  at  this 
remark.  "  Dunno  wot  we  gwine  to  do  'bout  dat,"  he 
said.  "Brudder  Jeemes  lib  free  miles  off,  an'  mos' 
like  he's  out  ditchin'.  Couldn't  git  him  h'yar  dis 
ebenin7,  nohow." 

"  Well,  den,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  "  you  conduc7  sarvices 
yourse'f,  Uncle  Isham,  an7  we  kin  have  pra'r-meetin', 
anyhow." 

Uncle  Isham  having  consented  to  this,  he  put  his 
oxen  under  the  care  of  a  small  boy,  and  collecting  in 
Aunt  Patsy's  room  the  five  colored  women  and  girls 
who  were  in  attendance  upon  her,  he  conducted 
"pra'rs,"  making  an  extemporaneous  petition  which 
comprehended  all  the  probable  contingencies  of  the 
journey,  even  to  the  accident  of  the  right  wheel  of  the 
cart  coming  off,  which  the  old  man  very  reverently 
asserted  he  would  have  linched  with  a  regular  pin 
instead  of  a  broken  poker -handle,  if  he  could  have 
found  one.  After  the  prayer,  with  which  Aunt  Patsy 
signified  her  entire  satisfaction  by  frequent  amens, 

70 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

the  company  joined  in  the  vigorous  singing  of  a  hymn, 
in  which  they  stated  that  they  were  "  gwine  down  to 
Jurdun,  an'  though  the  road  is  rough,  when  once  we 
shuh  we  git  dar,  we  all  be  glad  enough ;  de  rocks  an' 
de  stones,  an'  de  jolts  to  de  bones,  will  be  nuffin  to  de 
glory  an'  de  j'y." 

The  hymn  over,  Uncle  Isham  clapped  on  his  hat, 
and  hurried  menacingly  after  the  small  boy,  who  had 
let  the  oxen  wander  along  the  roadside  until  one 
wheel  of  the  cart  was  nearly  in  the  ditch.  Aunt  Patsy 
now  partook  of  a  collation,  consisting  of  a  piece  of 
hoe-cake  dipped  in  pork  fat,  and  a  cup  of  coffee,  which 
having  finished,  she  declared  herself  ready  to  start. 
A  chair  was  put  into  the  cart,  and  secured  by  ropes  to 
keep  it  from  slipping ;  and  then,  with  two  women  on 
one  side  and  Uncle  Isham  on  the  other,  while  another 
woman  stood  in  the  cart  to  receive  and  adjust  her,  she 
was  placed  in  position. 

Once  properly  disposed  she  presented  a  figure  which 
elicited  the  lively  admiration  of  her  friends,  whose 
number  was  now  increased  by  the  arrival  of  a  couple 
of  negro  boys  on  mules,  who  were  going  to  the  post- 
office,  it  being  Saturday,  and  mail-day.  Around  Aunt 
Patsy's  shoulders  was  a  bright-blue  worsted  shawl,  and 
upon  her  head  a  voluminous  turban  of  vivid  red  and 
yellow.  Since  their  emancipation,  the  negroes  in  that 
part  of  the  country  had  discarded  the  positive  and 
gaudy  colors  that  were  their  delight  when  they  were 
slaves,  and  had  transferred  their  fancy  to  delicate 
pinks,  pale  blues,  and  similar  shades.  But  Aunt  Patsy's 
ideas  about  dress  were  those  of  bygone  days,  and  she 
was  too  old  now  to  change  them,  and  her  brightest 
handkerchief  had  been  selected  for  her  head  on  this 

71 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

important  day.  Above  her  she  held  a  parasol,  which 
had  been  graciously  loaned  by  her  descendant  of  the 
fourth  generation.  It  was  white,  and  lined  with  pink, 
and  on  the  edges  still  lingered  some  fragments  of  cot 
ton  lace. 

Uncle  Isham  now  took  his  position  by  the  side  of 
his  oxen,  and  started  them  ;  and  slowly  creaking,  Aunt 
Patsy's  vehicle  moved  off,  followed  by  the  two  boys  on 
mules,  three  colored  women  and  two  girls  on  foot,  and 
by  two  little  black  urchins  who  were  sometimes  on 
foot,  but  invariably  on  the  tail  of  the  cart  when  they 
could  manage  to  evade  the  backward  turn  of  Uncle 
Isham's  eye. 

"  Ef  I  should  go  to  glory  on  de  road,  Uncle  Isham," 
said  Aunt  Patsy,  as  the  right  wheel  of  the  cart  emerged 
from  a  rather  awkward  rut,  "  I  don'  want  no  fuss  made 
'bout  me.  You  kin  jes  bury  me  in  de  clothes  I  got 
on,  'cep'n'  de  pararsol,  ob  course,  which  is  'Liza's.  Jes 
wrop  de  quilt  all  roun'  me,  an'  hab  a  extry-size  coffin. 
You  needn't  do  nuffin  more'n  dat." 

"  Oh,  you's  not  gwine  to  glory  dis  time,  Aun'  Patsy," 
replied  Uncle  Isham,  who  did  not  want  to  encourage 
the  idea  of  the  old  woman's  departure  from  life  while 
in  his  ox-cart.  But  after  this  remark  of  the  old  woman 
he  was  extraordinarily  eareful  in  regard  to  jolts  and 
bumps. 

When  the  procession  reached  the  domain  of  Miss 
Harriet  Corvey,  there  was  gathered  inside  the  yard 
quite  a  number  of  the  usual  attendants  on  mail-days 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  Wesley  Green  with  his  wad 
dling  horse  and  leather  bag.  But  all  interest  in  the 
coming  of  the  mail  was  lost  in  the  surprise  and  ad 
miration  excited  by  the  astounding  apparition  of  old 

72 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Aunt  Patsy  in  the  ox-cart,  attended  by  her  retinue. 
As  the  oxen,  skilfully  guided  by  Uncle  Isham's  long 
prod,  turned  into  the  yard,  everybody  came  forward 
to  find  out  the  reason  of  this  unlooked-for  occurrence. 
Even  old  Madison  Chalkley,  his  stout  legs  swaddled 
in  home-made  overalls,  dismounted  from  his  horse, 
and  Colonel  Iston  raised  his  tall  form  from  the  porch 
step,  where  he  had  been  sitting,  and  approached  the 
cart. 

"Upon  my  word,"  said  a  young  fellow  with  high 
boots,  slouched  hat,  and  a  riding- whip,  "  if  here  ain't 
old  Aunt  Patsy  come  after  a  letter !  Where  do  you 
expect  a  letter  from,  Aunt  Patsy  f  " 

The  old  woman  fixed  her  spectacles  on  him  for  an 
instant,  and  then  said  in  a  clear  voice  which  could  be 
heard  by  all  the  little  crowd :  "  'Tain't  from  nobody 
dat  I  owes  any  money  to,  nohow,  Mahs'  Bill  Trimble." 

A  general  laugh  followed  this  rejoinder,  and  Uncle 
Isham  grinned  with  gratified  pride  in  the  enduring 
powers  of  his  charge.  The  old  woman  now  put  down 
her  parasol,  and  made  as  if  she  would  descend  from 
the  cart. 

"You  needn't  git  out,  Aun'  Patsy,"  said  several 
negro  boys  at  once.  "We'll  fotch  your  letters  to 
you." 

"  Git  'long  wid  you ! "  said  the  old  woman,  angrily. 
"I  didn't  come  here  fur  no  letters.  Ef  I  wanted 
letters  I'd  sen'  'Liza  fur  'em.  Git  out  de  way." 

A  chair  was  now  brought,  and  placed  near  the  cart ; 
a  woman  mounted  into  the  vehicle  to  assist  her ;  Uncle 
Isham  and  another  colored  man  stood  ready  to  receive 
her,  and  Aunt  Patsy  began  her  descent.  This,  to  her 
mind,  was  a  much  more  difficult  and  dangerous  pro- 

73 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

ceeding  than  getting  into  the  cart,  and  she  was  very 
slow  and  cautious  about  it.  First,  one  of  her  great 
green-baize  feet  was  put  over  the  tail  of  the  cart,  and 
resting  her  weight  upon  the  two  men,  Aunt  Patsy 
allowed  it  to  descend  to  the  chair,  where  it  was  grad 
ually  followed  by  the  other  foot.  Having  safely 
accomplished  this  much,  the  old  woman  ejaculated : 
"  Bress  de  Lor' ! "  When,  in  the  same  prudent  man 
ner,  she  had  reached  the  ground,  she  heaved  a  sigh  of 
relief,  and  fervently  exclaimed  :  "  De  Lor'  be  bressed  ! " 

Supported  by  Uncle  Isham  and  the  other  man,  Aunt 
Patsy  now  approached  the  steps.  She  was  so  old,  so 
little,  so  bowed,  and  so  apparently  feeble,  that  several 
persons  remonstrated  with  her  for  attempting  to  go 
into  the  house  when  anything  she  wanted  would  be 
gladly  done  for  her.  "Much  'bliged,"  said  the  old 
woman,  "  but  I  don'  want  no  letters  nor  nuffin.  I?se 
come  to  make  a  call  on  de  white  folks,  an'  I'se  gwine  in." 

This  announcement  was  received  with  a  laugh,  and 
she  was  allowed  to  proceed  without  further  hindrance. 
She  got  up  the  porch  steps  without  much  difficulty, 
her  supporters  taking  upon  themselves  most  of  the 
necessary  exertion ;  but  when  she  reached  the  top,  she 
dispensed  with  their  assistance.  Shuffling  to  the  front 
door,  she  there  met  Miss  Harriet  Corvey,  who  greeted 
the  old  woman  with  much  surprise,  but  shook  hands 
with  her  very  cordially. 

"Ebenin',  Miss  Har'et,"  said  Aunt  Patsy.  And 
then,  lowering  her  voice,  she  asked :  "Is  ole  miss 
h'yar?" 

Miss  Harriet  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  she  an 
swered  :  "  Yes,  she  is  j  but  I  don't  believe  she'll  come 
down  to  see  you." 

74 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"Oh,  I'll  go  up-sta'rs,"  said  Aunt  Patsy.  "Whar 
she?" 

"She's  in  the  spare  chamber,"  said  Miss  Harriet  j 
and  Aunt  Patsy,  with  a  nod  of  the  head  signifying  that 
she  knew  all  about  that  room,  crossed  the  hall,  and 
began,  slowly  but  steadily,  to  ascend  the  stairs.  Miss 
Harriet  gazed  upon  her  with  amazement,  for  Aunt 
Patsy  had  been  considered  chair-ridden  when  the  post 
mistress  was  a  young  woman.  Arrived  at  the  end  of 
her  toilsome  ascent,  Aunt  Patsy  knocked  at  the  door 
of  the  spare  chamber,  and  as  the  voice  of  her  old  mis 
tress  said,  "  Come  in ! "  she  went  in. 


76 


CHAPTER  VII 

WHEN  Lawrence  Croft  reached  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs,  after  his  interview  with  Miss  March,  his  soul 
was  still  bubbling  and  boiling  with  emotion,  and  it 
continued  in  that  condition  all  night,  at  least  during 
that  great  part  of  the  night  of  which  he  was  conscious. 
The  sight  of  the  lady  he  loved,  under  the  new  cir 
cumstances  in  which  he  found  her,  had  determined 
him  to  throw  prudence  and  precaution  to  the  winds, 
and  to  ask  her  at  once  to  be  his  wife. 

But  the  next  morning  Lawrence  arose  very  late. 
His  coffee  had  evidently  been  warmed  over,  and  his 
bacon  had  been  cooked  for  a  long,  long  time.  The 
world  did  not  appear  to  him  in  a  favorable  light,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  smoke  two  cigars  before  he  was  at 
all  satisfied  with  it.  While  he  was  smoking  he  did  a 
good  deal  of  thinking,  and  it  was  then  that  he  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  he  would  not  go  over  to  Mid- 
branch  and  propose  to  Eoberta  March.  Such  precipi 
tate  action  would  be  unjust  to  himself  and  unjust  to 
her.  In  her  eyes  it  would  probably  appear  to  be  the 
act  of  a  man  who  had  been  suddenly  spurred  to  action 
by  the  sight  of  a  rival,  and  this,  if  Koberta  was  the 
woman  he  believed  her  to  be,  would  prejudice  her 
against  him.  And  yet  he  knew  very  well  that  these 

76 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

reasons  would  avail  nothing  if  lie  should  see  her  as 
he  intended.  He  had  found  that  he  was  much  more 
in  love  with  her  than  he  had  supposed,  and  he  felt 
positively  certain  that  the  next  time  he  was  alone  with 
her  he  would  declare  his  passion. 

Another  thing  that  he  felt  he  should  consider  was 
that  the  presence  of  Keswick,  if  looked  upon  with  a 
philosophic  eye,  was  not  a  reason  for  immediate  action. 
If  the  old  engagement  had  positively  been  broken  off, 
he  was  at  the  house  merely  as  a  family  friend  j  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  the  rupture  had  not  been  abso 
lute,  and  if  Roberta  really  loved  this  tall  Southerner 
and  wished  to  marry  him,  there  was  a  feeling  of  honor 
about  Lawrence  which  forbade  him  to  interfere  at  this 
moment.  When  she  came  to  New  York  he  would 
find  out  how  matters  really  stood,  and  then  he  would 
determine  on  his  own  action. 

And  yet  he  would  have  proposed  to  Roberta  that 
moment  if  he  had  had  the  opportunity.  Her  personal 
presence  would  have  banished  philosophy,  and  even 
honor. 

Lawrence  was  a  long  time  in  coming  to  these  con 
clusions,  and  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  he 
despatched  his  note.  Having  now  given  up  his  North 
Carolina  trip,— one  object  of  which  had  been  still  an 
other  visit  to  Midbranch  on  his  return,— he  was  obliged 
to  wait  until  the  next  day  for  a  train  to  the  North  j 
and,  consequently,  he  had  another  evening  to  devote 
to  reflections.  These,  after  a  time,  became  unsatisfac 
tory.  He  had  told  the  exact  truth  in  his  note  to 
Roberta,  for  he  felt  that  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
leave  that  part  of  the  country  in  order  to  make  im 
possible  an  interview  for  which  he  believed  the  proper 

77 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

time  had  not  arrived.  He  was  consulting  his  best 
interests,  and  also,  no  doubt,  those  of  the  lady.  And 
yet,  in  spite  of  this  reasoning,  he  was  not  satisfied  with 
himself.  He  felt  that  his  note  was  not  entirely  honest 
and  true.  There  was  subterfuge  about  it,  and  some 
thing  of  duplicity.  This  he  believed  was  foreign  to 
his  nature,  and  he  did  not  like  it. 

Lawrence  had  scarcely  finished  his  breakfast  the 
next  morning  when  Mr.  Junius  Keswick  arrived  at 
the  door  of  his  cottage.  This  gentleman  had  walked 
over  from  Midbranch,  and  was  a  little  dusty  about  his 
boots  and  the  lower  part  of  his  trousers.  Lawrence 
greeted  him  politely,  but  was  unable  to  restrain  a 
slight  indication  of  surprise.  It  being  more  pleasant 
on  the  porch  than  in  the  house,  Mr.  Croft  invited  his 
visitor  to  take  a  seat  there,  and  the  latter  very  kindly 
accepted  the  cigar  which  was  offered  him,  although 
he  would  have  preferred  the  pipe  he  had  in  his 
pocket. 

"  I  thought  it  possible,"  said  Keswick,  as  soon  as  the 
two  had  fairly  begun  to  smoke,  "  that  you  might  not 
yet  have  left  here,  and  so  came  over  in  the  hope  of 
seeing  you." 

"  Very  kind,"  said  Lawrence. 

Keswick  smiled.  "  I  must  admit,"  said  he,  "  that  it 
was  not  solely  for  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  again 
that  I  came,  although  I  am  very  glad  to  have  an  op 
portunity  for  renewing  our  acquaintance.  I  came 
because  I  am  quite  convinced  that  Miss  March  wished 
very  much  to  see  you  at  the  time  arranged  between 
you,  and  that  she  was  annoyed  and  discomposed  by 
your  failure  to  keep  your  engagement.  Considering 
that  you  did  not,  and  probably  could  not,  know  this, 

78 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

I  deemed  I  would  do  you  a  service  by  informing  you 
of  the  fact." 

"Did  Miss  March  send  you  to  tell  me  this!"  ex 
claimed  Lawrence. 

"  Miss  March  knows  nothing  whatever  of  my  com 
ing,"  was  the  answer. 

"  Then  I  must  say,  sir,"  exclaimed  Lawrence,  "  that 
you  have  taken  a  great  deal  upon  yourself." 

Keswick  leaned  forward,  and  after  knocking  off  the 
ashes  of  his  cigar  on  the  outside  of  the  railing,  he  re 
plied  in  a  tone  quite  unmoved  by  the  reproach  of  his 
companion :  "  It  may  appear  so  on  the  face  of  it,  but, 
in  fact,  I  am  actuated  only  by  a  desire  to  serve  Miss 
March,  for  whom  I  would  do  any  service  that  I  thought 
she  desired.  And,  looking  at  it  from  your  side,  I  am 
sure  that  I  would  be  very  much  obliged  to  any  one 
who  would  inform  me,  if  I  did  not  know  it,  that  a  lady 
greatly  wished  to  see  me." 

"Why  does  she  want  to  see  me?"  asked  Croft. 
"  What  has  she  to  say  to  me  f  " 

"I  do  not  know,"  said  Keswick.  "I  only  know 
that  she  was  very  much  disappointed  in  not  seeing 
you  yesterday." 

"  If  that  is  the  case,  she  might  have  written  to  me," 
said  Lawrence. 

"  I  do  not  think  you  quite  understand  the  situation," 
observed  his  companion.  "  Miss  March  is  not  a  lady 
who  would  even  intimate  to  a  gentleman  that  she 
wished  him  to  come  to  her  when  it  was  obvious  that 
such  was  not  his  desire.  But  it  seemed  to  me  that  if 
the  gentleman  should  become  aware  of  the  lady's 
wishes  through  the  medium  of  a  third  party,  the  matter 
would  arrange  itself  without  difficulty." 

79 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"By  the  gentleman  going  to  her,  I  suppose,"  re 
marked  Croft. 

"  Of  course,"  said  Keswick. 

"  There  is  no  *  of  course '  about  it,"  was  Lawrence's 
rather  quick  reply. 

At  that  moment  some  letters  were  brought  to  him 
from  a  little  post-office  near  by,  to  which  he  had 
ordered  his  mail  to  be  forwarded.  As  the  address  on 
one  of  these  letters  caught  his  eye,  the  somewhat  stern 
expression  on  his  face  gave  place  to  a  smile,  and  beg 
ging  his  visitor  to  excuse  him,  he  put  his  other  letters 
into  his  pocket,  and  opened  this  one.  It  was  very 
short,  and  was  from  Mr.  Candy's  cashier.  It  was 
written  from  Hewlett's,  Virginia,  a  place  unknown  to 
him,  and  stated  that  the  writer  expected  in  a  very 
short  time  to  give  him  some  accurate  information  in 
regard  to  Mr.  Keswick,  and  expressed  the  hope  that 
he  would  allow  the  affair  to  remain  entirely  in  her 
hands  until  she  should  write  again.  It  was  quite  nat 
ural  that,  under  the  circumstances,  Lawrence  should 
smile  broadly  as  he  folded  up  this  note.  The  man  in 
question  was  sitting  beside  him,  and,  in  a  measure, 
was  turning  the  tables  upon  him.  Lawrence  had  been 
very  anxious  to  find  out  what  sort  of  a  man  was  Kes 
wick,  and  the  latter  now  seemed  in  the  way  of  making 
some  discoveries  in  the  same  line  in  regard  to  Law 
rence.  One  thing  he  must  certainly  do  :  he  must  write 
as  soon  as  possible  to  his  enterprising  agent,  and  tell 
her  that  her  services  were  no  longer  needed.  She 
must  have  pushed  the  matter  with  a  great  deal  of 
energy  to  have  brought  her  down  to  Virginia,  and  he 
could  not  help  hoping  that  her  discretion  was  equal  to 
her  investigative  capacity. 

80 


THE  LATE   MRS.  NULL 

When,  after  this  little  interruption,  Lawrence  again 
addressed  Junius  Keswick,  his  manner  was  so  much 
more  affable  that  the  other  could  not  fail  but  notice  it. 

"  Mr.  Keswick,"  he  said,  "  as  our  conversation  seems 
to  be  based  upon  personalities,  perhaps  you  will  ex 
cuse  me  if  I  ask  you  if  I  am  mistaken  in  believing  that 
you  were  once  engaged  to  be  married  to  Miss  March ! " 

"You  are  entirely  correct,"  said  Junius.  "I  was 
engaged  to  her,  and  I  hope  to  be  engaged  to  her 
again." 

"  Indeed ! "  exclaimed  Croft,  turning  in  his  chair 
with  a  start. 

"  Yes,"  continued  Keswick  j  "  our  engagement  was 
dissolved  in  consequence  of  a  certain  family  complica 
tion,  and,  as  I  said  before,  I  hope  in  time  to  be  able  to 
renew  it." 

Lawrence  threw  away  his  cigar,  and  sat  for  a  few 
moments  in  thought.  The  engagement,  then,  did  not 
exist.  Roberta  was  free.  Recollections  came  to  him 
of  his  own  intercourse  with  her  during  the  past  sum 
mer,  and  his  heart  gave  a  bound.  "Mr.  Keswick," 
said  he,  "  upon  consideration  of  the  matter  I  think  I 
will  call  upon  Miss  March  this  morning." 

If  Keswick  had  expressed  himself  entirely  satisfied 
with  this  decision  he  would  have  done  injustice  to  his 
feelings.  The  service  he  had  taken  upon  himself  to 
perform  for  Miss  March  he  had  considered  a  duty,  but 
if  his  mission  had  failed  he  would  have  been  better 
pleased  than  with  its  success.  He  made,  however,  a 
courteous  reply  to  Croft's  remark,  and  rose  to  depart. 
But  this  the  other  would  not  allow. 

"  You  told  me,"  said  Croft,  "  that  you  walked  over 
here ;  but  it  is  much  warmer  now,  and  you  must  not 

81 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

think  of  such  a  thing  as  walking  back.  The  man  here 
has  a  horse  and  buggy.  I  will  get  him  to  harness  up, 
and  I  will  drive  you  over  to  Midbranch." 

As  there  was  no  good  reason  why  he  should  decline 
this  offer,  Junius  accepted  it,  and  in  half  an  hour  the 
two  were  on  their  way. 


CHAPTER  VIH 

OLD  Mr.  Brandon  of  Midbranch  was  not  in  a  very 
happy  frame  of  mind,  and  lie  had  good  reasons  for 
dissatisfaction.  He  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  a  mar 
riage  between  his  niece  and  Junius  Keswick;  and 
when  the  engagement  had  been  broken  off  he  had  con 
sidered  that  both  these  young  people  had  acted  in  a 
manner  very  foolish  and  contrary  to  their  best  inter 
ests.  There  was  no  opposition  to  the  match  except 
from  old  Mrs.  Keswick,  who  was  the  aunt  of  Junius, 
but  who  considered  herself  as  occupying  the  position 
of  a  mother.  Junius  was  the  son  of  a  sister  who  had 
also  married  into  the  Keswick  family,  and  his  parents 
having  died  while  he  was  a  boy,  his  aunt  had  taken 
him  under  her  charge,  and  her  house  had  then  become 
his  home ;  although  of  late  years  some  of  his  absences 
had  been  long  ones.  Mrs.  Keswick  had  no  personal 
objections  to  Eoberta,  never  having  seen  that  lady, 
and  knowing  little  of  her ;  but  an  alliance  between  her 
Junius  and  any  member  of  that  branch  of  the  Bran 
dons  "  which,"  to  use  the  old  lady's  own  words,  "  had 
for  four  generations  cheated,  stripped,  and  scornfully 
used  my  people,  scattering  their  atoms  over  the  face 
of  three  counties,"  was  monstrous.  Nothing  could 
make  her  consent  to  such  an  enormity,  and  she  had 

83 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

informed  Junius  that  if  he  married  that  March  girl 
three  of  them  should  live  together— himself,  his  wife, 
and  her  undying  curse.  In  order  that  Miss  March 
might  not  fail  to  hear  of  this  post-connubial  arrange 
ment,  she  had  been  informed  of  it  by  letter.  Of  course 
this  had  broken  off  the  engagement,  for  Roberta  would 
not  live  under  a  curse,  nor  would  she  tear  a  man  from 
the  only  near  relative  he  had  in  the  world.  Keswick 
himself,  like  most  men,  would  have  been  willing  to 
have  this  tearing  take  place  for  the  sake  of  uniting 
himself  to  such  a  charming  creature  as  Koberta  March. 
But  the  lady  on  one  side  was  as  inflexible  as  the 
lady  on  the  other,  and  the  engagement  was  definitely 
and  absolutely  ended. 

Mr.  Brandon  considered  all  this  as  stuff  and  non 
sense.  He  could  not  deny  that  his  branch  of  the 
Brandons  had  certainly  got  a  good  deal  out  of  Mrs. 
Keswick's  family.  But  here  was  a  chance  to  make 
everything  all  right  again,  and  he  would  be  delighted 
to  see  Junius,  a  relative,  although  a  distant  one,  come 
into  possession  of  Midbranch.  As  for  the  old  lady's 
opposition,  that  should  not  be  considered  at  all,  he 
thought.  It  was  his  opinion  that  her  mind  had  been 
twisted  by  her  bad  temper,  and  nothing  she  could  say 
could  hurt  anybody. 

Of  late  Mr.  Brandon  had  been  much  encouraged  by 
the  fact  that  Junius  had  begun  to  resume  his  position 
as  a  friend  of  the  family.  This  was  all  very  well.  If 
the  young  people,  by  occasional  meetings,  could  keep 
alive  their  sentiments  towards  each  other,  the  time 
would  come  when  all  opposition  would  cease,  and  the 
marriage  would  become  an  assured  fact.  He  did  not 
believe  either  of  the  young  people  would  care  enough 

84 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

for  a  post-mortem  curse,  if  there  should  be  one,  to 
keep  themselves  separated  from  each  other  on  its  ac 
count  for  the  rest  of  their  lives. 

But  the  recent  quite  unexpected  return  of  Lawrence 
Croft  to  Midbranch,  combined  with  the  evident  dis 
composure  into  which  Koberta  had  been  thrown  by 
his  failure  to  come  the  next  day,  had  given  the  old 
gentleman  some  unpleasant  ideas.  His  niece  had 
mentioned  that  she  expected  Mr.  Croft  that  day,  and 
although  she  said  nothing  in  regard  to  her  subsequent 
disappointment  and  vexation,  his  mind  was  quite  acute 
enough  to  perceive  it.  Exactly  what  it  all  meant  he 
knew  not,  but  it  augured  danger.  For  the  first  time 
he  began  to  look  upon  Mr.  Croft  in  the  light  of  a 
suitor  for  Roberta.  If  a  jealous  feeling  at  finding 
another  person  on  the  ground  was  the  cause  of  his  not 
coming  again,  it  showed  that  he  was  in  earnest,  and 
this,  added  to  the  evident  disturbance  of  mind  of  both 
Eoberta  and  Junius,  was  enough  to  give  Mr.  Brandon 
most  serious  fears  that  an  obstacle  to  his  cherished 
plan  was  arising.  Eoberta  was  fond  of  city  life,  of 
society,  of  travel,  and  if  she  had  really  made  up  her 
mind  that  her  union  with  Junius  was  no  longer  to  be 
thought  of,  the  advent  of  a  man  like  Croft,  who  had 
been  making  her  acquaintance  all  summer,  and  who 
had  now  returned  to  Virginia  no  doubt  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  seeing  her  again,  was,  to  say  the  least,  ex 
ceedingly  ominous.  One  thing  only  could  correct  this 
deplorable  state  of  affairs.  The  absurd  bar  to  the 
union  of  Junius  and  Roberta  should  be  removed,  and 
they  should  be  allowed  to  enter  upon  the  happiness 
that  was  their  right. 

Above  all,  the  estate  of  Midbranch  should  not  be 
85 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

suffered  to  go  into  the  possession  of  an  outsider,  who 
might  be  good  enough,  but  who  was  of  no  earthly 
moment  or  interest  to  the  Brandons.  He  would  go 
himself,  and  see  the  widow  Keswick,  and  talk  her  out 
of  her  nonsense.  It  was  a  long  time  since  he  had  met 
the  old  wildcat,  as  he  termed  her,  and  his  recollection 
of  the  last  interview  was  not  pleasant ;  but  he  was  not 
afraid  of  her,  and  he  hoped  that  the  common  sense  of 
what  he  would  say  would  bring  her  to  reason. 

Mr.  Brandon  made  up  his  mind  during  the  night ; 
and  when  he  came  down  to  breakfast  he  was  very  glad 
to  find  that  Junius  had  already  gone  out  for  a  walk. 
The  distance  to  the  widow  Keswick's  house  was  about 
fifteen  miles,  a  pleasant  day's  ride  for  the  old  gentle 
man,  and  as  he  did  not  expect  to  return  until  the 
next  day,  he  felt  obliged  to  inform  Koberta  of  his  des 
tination,  although,  of  course,  he  said  nothing  about  the 
object  of  his  visit.  He  told  his  niece  that  he  was 
obliged  to  see  the  widow  Keswick  on  business,  to  which 
remark  she  listened  without  reply. 

Soon  after  breakfast  he  mounted  his  good  horse 
Albemarle,  and  early  in  the  afternoon  he  arrived  at 
the  widow  Keswick's  gate.  He  had  looked  for  a 
stormy  reception,  in  which  the  thunder-bolts  of  rage 
should  burst  around  him,  and  he  was  surprised,  there 
fore,  to  be  received  with  the  frigidity  of  the  North 
Pole. 

"  I  never  expected,"  she  said,  without  any  previous 
courtesy,  "  to  see  one  of  your  people  under  my  roof, 
and  it  is  not  very  long  ago  since  I  would  have  gone 
away  from  it  the  moment  any  one  of  you  came  near  it." 

"I  am  happy,  madam,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  in  his 
most  courteous  manner,  "  that  that  day  is  past." 

86 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  My  staying  won't  do  you  any  good/7  said  the  old 
lady,  whose  purple  sunbonnet  seemed  to  heave  with 
the  uprising  of  her  hair,  "except,  perhaps,  to  get  you  a 
better  meal  than  the  servants  would  have  given  you. 
But  I  want  a  lawyer,  and  I  can't  afford  to  pay  for  one 
either,  and  when  I  saw  you  coming  I  just  made  up  my 
mind  to  get  something  out  of  you,  and  if  I  do  it,  it'll 
be  the  first  red  mark  for  my  side  of  the  family." 

Mr.  Brandon  assured  her  that  nothing  would  give 
him  more  pleasure  than  to  assist  her  in  any  way  in 
his  power. 

"Very  well,  then,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick;  "just  sit 
down  on  that  bench,  and,  when  we  have  got  through, 
your  horse  can  be  taken,  and  you  can  rest  awhile, 
though  it  seems  a  very  curious  thing  that  you  should 
want  to  stop  here  to  rest." 

"  Well,  madam,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  seating  himself 
as  comfortably  as  possible  on  a  wooden  bench,  "I  shall 
be  happy  to  hear  anything  you  have  to  say." 

The  old  lady  did  not  sit  down,  but  stood  up  in  front 
of  him,  leaning  on  her  umbrella,  with  which  faithful 
companion  she  had  been  about  to  set  out  on  her  walk. 
"  When  my  son  Junius  came  home  awhile  ago—"  she 
began. 

"Do  you  still  call  him  your  son  I"  interrupted  Mr. 
Brandon. 

"  Indeed  I  do ! "  was  the  very  prompt  answer. 
"  That's  just  what  he  is.  And,  as  I  was  going  to  say, 
when  he  wrote  me  a  short  time  ago  that  he  was  coming 
here,  I  believed,  from  his  letter,  that  he  had  some 
scheme  on  hand  in  regard  to  your  niece,  and  I  made 
up  my  mind  I  wouldn't  stay  in  the  house  to  hear 
anything  more  said  on  that  subject.  I  had  told  him 

87 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

that  I  never  wanted  him  to  say  another  word  about  it ; 
and  it  made  my  blood  boil,  sir,  to  think  that  he  had 
come  again  to  try  to  cozen  me  into  the  vile  compact," 

"  Madam  ! "  exclaimed  Mr.  Brandon. 

"  The  next  day,"  continued  Mrs.  Keswick,  "  a  lady 
arrived ;  and  as  soon  as  I  saw  her  drive  into  the  gate 
I  felt  sure  it  was  Roberta  March,  and  that  the  two 
had  hatched  up  a  plot  to  come  and  work  on  my  feel 
ings,  and  so  I  wouldn't  come  near  the  house." 

"  Madam  ! "  exclaimed  Mr.  Brandon,  "  how  could 
you  dream  such  a  thing  of  my  niece?  You  don't 
know  her,  madam." 

"  No,"  said  the  old  lady,  "  I  don't  know  her,  but  I 
knew  she  belonged  to  your  family,  and  so  I  was  not  to 
be  surprised  at  anything  she  did.  But  I  found  out  I 
was  mistaken.  An  old  negro  woman  recognized  this 
young  person  as  the  daughter  of  my  younger  sister— 
you  know  there  were  three  of  us.  The  child  was  born 
and  raised  here,  but  I  have  not  seen  and  have  scarcely 
heard  of  her  since  she  was  eight  years  old." 

"That's  very  extraordinary,  madam,"  said  Mr, 
Brandon. 

"No,  it  isn't,  when  you  consider  the  stubbornness, 
the  obstinacy,  and  the  wickedness  of  some  people.  My 
sister  sickened  when  the  child  was  about  six  years  old, 
and  her  husband,  Harvey  Peyton — " 

"  I  have  frequently  heard  of  him,  madam,"  said  Mr. 
Brandon. 

"And  I  wish  I  never  had,"  said  she.  "Well,  he 
was  travelling  most  of  the  time,  a  thing  my  sister 
couldn't  do ;  but  he  came  here  then,  and  stayed,  off 
and  on,  till  she  died.  And  not  long  afterwards,  just 
because  I  told  him  that  I  intended  to  consider  the 

88 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

child  as  my  child,  and  that  she  should  have  the  name 
of  Keswick  instead  of  his  name,  and  should  know  me 
as  her  mother,  and  live  with  me  always,  he  got  angry 
and  flared  up,  and  actually  took  the  child  away.  I 
gave  it  to  him  hot,  I  can  tell  you,  before  he  left,  and 
I  never  saw  him  again.  He  was  so  eaten  up  with  rage 
because  I  wanted  to  take  the  little  Annie  for  my  own, 
that  he  filled  her  mind  with  such  prejudices  against 
me  that  when  he  died,  a  year  or  two  ago,  she  actually 
went  to  work  to  get  her  own  living  instead  of  applying 
to  me  for  help.  But  now  she  has  come  down  here,  and 
I  was  really  filled  with  joy  to  have  her  again  and  carry- 
out  the  plan  on  which  my  heart  had  long  been  set- 
that  is,  to  marry  her  to  her  cousin  Junius,  and  let  them 
have  this  farm  when  I  am  gone—" 

At  this  Mr.  Brandon  raised  his  eyebrows  and  low 
ered  the  corners  of  his  mouth. 

"  But  I  suddenly  discover,"  continued  the  old  lady, 
"  that  the  little  wretch  is  married— actually  married." 

At  this  Mr.  Brandon  lowered  his  eyebrows  and  raised 
the  corners  of  his  mouth.  "Did  her  husband  come 
with  her  f  "  he  asked,  pleasantly.  And  he  gave  a  few 
long,  free  breaths,  as  if  he  had  just  passed  in  safety  a 
very  dangerous  and  unsuspected  rock. 

"No,  he  didn't,"  replied  the  old  lady.  "I  don't 
know  where  he  is,  and,  from  what  I  can  make  out,  he 
is  an  utterly  good-for-nothing  fellow,  allowing  his  wife 
to  go  where  she  pleases  and  take  care  of  herself.  Now 
this  abominable  marriage  stands  square  in  the  way  of 
the  plan  which  again  rose  up  in  my  mind  the  moment 
I  heard  that  the  girl  was  in  my  house.  If  Junius  and 
she  should  marry,  there  would  be  no  more  dangers 
for  me  to  look  out  for." 

89 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"But  the  existence  of  a  husband,"  said  Mr.  Brandon, 
blandly,  "  puts  an  end  to  all  thoughts  of  such  an  alli 
ance." 

"  No,  it  don't,"  said  the  old  lady,  bringing  her  um 
brella  down  with  force  on  the  porch.  "  Not  a  bit  of 
it.  Such  an  outrageous  marriage  should  not  be  suf 
fered  to  exist.  They  should  be  divorced.  He  does 
nothing  for  her,  and  neglects  and  deserts  her  abso 
lutely.  There's  every  ground  for  a  divorce,  or  enough 
grounds,  at  any  rate.  All  that's  necessary  is  for  a 
lawyer  to  take  it  up.  I  don't  know  any  lawyers,  and 
when  T  saw  you  riding  up  from  the  road  gate  I  said 
to  myself:  'Here's  the  very  man  I  want— and  it's  full 
time  I  should  get  something  from  people  who  have 
taken  nearly  everything  from  me.' " 

Mr.  Brandon  bowed. 

"  And  now,"  continued  the  old  lady,  "  I  am  going  to 
put  the  case  into  your  hands.  The  man  is  evidently 
a  good-for-nothing  scoundrel,  and  has  probably  spent 
the  little  money  that  her  miserable  father  left  her. 
It's  a  clear  case  of  desertion,  and  there  should  be  no 
trouble  at  all  in  getting  the  divorce." 

Mr.  Brandon  looked  down  upon  the  floor  of  the 
porch,  and  smiled.  This  was  a  pretty  case,  he  thought, 
to  put  into  his  hands.  Here  was  a  marriage  which  was 
the  strongest  protection  in  the  promotion  of  his  own 
plan,  and  he  was  asked  to  annul  it.  "Very  good," 
thought  Mr.  Brandon,  "  very  good."  And  he  smiled 
again.  But  he  was  an  old-fashioned  gentleman,  and 
not  used  to  refuse  requests  made  to  him  by  ladies. 
"  I  will  look  into  it,  madam,"  said  he.  "  I  will  look 
into  it,  and  see  what  can  be  done." 

"  Something  must  be  done,"  said  the  old  lady  j  "  and 

90 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

the  right  thing,  too.  How  long  do  you  intend  to  stay 
here?" 

"I  thought  of  spending  the  night,  madam,  as  my 
horse  and  myself  are  scarcely  in  condition  to  continue 
our  journey  to-day." 

"  Stay  as  long  as  you  like,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick.  "  I 
turn  nobody  from  my  doors,  even  if  they  belong  to 
the  Brandon  family.  I  want  you  to  talk  to  my  niece, 
and  get  all  you  can  out  of  her  about  this  thing,  and 
then  you  can  go  to  work  and  blot  out  this  contemptible 
marriage  as  soon  as  possible." 

"  The  first  thing,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  «  will  be  to  talk 
to  the  lady." 

This  reply  being  satisfactory  to  Mrs.  Keswick,  Uncle 
Isham  was  called  to  take  the  horse  and  attend  to  him, 
while  the  master  was  invited  into  the  house. 

Mr.  Brandon  first  met  Mrs.  Null  at  supper-time, 
and  her  appearance  very  much  pleased  him.  "  It  is 
not  likely,"  he  said  to  himself,  "that  the  man  lives 
who  would  willingly  give  up  such  a  charming  young 
creature  as  this."  They  were  obliged  to  introduce 
themselves  to  each  other,  as  the  lady  of  the  house  had 
not  yet  appeared.  After  a  while  Letty,  who  was  in 
attendance,  advised  them  to  sit  down,  as  "de  light 
bread  an7  de  batterbread  was  gittin'  cole." 

"  We  could  not  think  of  such  a  thing  as  sitting  at 
table  before  Mrs.  Keswick  arrives,"  said  Mr.  Brandon. 

"  Oh,  dar's  no  knowin'  when  she'll  come,"  said  the 
blooming  Letty.  "She  may  be  h'yar  by  breakfus'- 
time,  but  dar  ain't  nobuddy  in  dis  yere  worl'  kin  tell. 
She's  down  at  de  bahn  now,  blowin'  up  Plez  fur  gwine 
to  sleep  when  he  was  a-shellin7  de  cohn-fieP  peas.  An' 
when  she's  got  froo  wid  him  she's  got  a  bone  to  pick 

91 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

wid  Uncle  Isham  'bout  de  gyardin.  'Tain't  no  use 
waitin'  fur  ole  miss.  She  nebber  do  come  when  de 
bell  rings.  She  come  when  she  git  ready,  an'  not 
afore." 

Mr.  Brandon  now  felt  quite  sure  that  it  was  the  in 
tention  of  his  hostess  not  to  break  bread  with  one  of 
his  family,  and  so  he  seated  himself,  Mrs.  Null  taking 
the  head  of  the  table  and  pouring  out  the  tea  and 
coffee. 

"  It  has  been  a  long  time,  madam,  since  you  were  in 
this  part  of  the  country,"  said  the  old  gentleman,  as 
he  drew  the  smoking  batterbread  towards  him  and 
began  to  cut  it. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Null ;  "  not  since  I  was  a  little  girl. 
I  suppose  you  have  heard,  sir,  that  Aunt  Keswick  and 
my  father  were  on  very  bad  terms,  and  would  not  have 
anything  to  do  with  each  other?" 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Mr.  Brandon ;  "  I  have  heard  that." 

"  But  my  father  is  not  living  now,  and  I  am  down 
here  again." 

"  And  your  husband  ?  He  did  not  accompany  you  f  " 
said  Mr.  Brandon. 

"  No,"  replied  Mrs.  Null,  very  quickly.  "  We  were 
both  very  sorry  that  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to 
come  with  me." 

Mr.  Brandon's  spirits  began  to  rise.  This  did  not 
look  quite  like  desertion.  "  I  have  no  doubt  you  have 
a  very  good  husband.  I  am  sure  you  deserve  such  a 
one,"  he  said,  with  the  air  of  a  father  and  the  purpose 
of  a  lawyer. 

"  Good ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Null,  her  eyes  sparkling. 
"  He  couldn't  be  better  if  he  tried !  Will  you  have 
sweet  milk  or  buttermilk  ?  " 

92 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

«  Buttermilk,  if  you  please,"  said  Mr.  Brandon.  "  Of 
course  your  aunt  was  delighted  to  have  you  with  her 
again." 

"  Oh,"  said  Mrs.  Null,  with  a  laugh,  "  she  was  not  at 
home  when  I  arrived,  but  when  she  returned  nothing 
could  be  too  good  for  me.  Why,  she  had  been  here 
scarcely  half  an  hour,  and  hadn't  taken  off  her  sun- 
bonnet,  before  she  told  me  I  was  to  marry  Junius  and 
we  two  were  to  have  this  farm." 

"  A  very  pleasant  plan,  truly,"  said  Mr.  Brandon. 

"  But  then,  you  see,"  continued  the  young  girl,  "  Mr. 
Null  stood  dreadfully  in  the  way  of  such  an  arrange 
ment  ;  and  when  Aunt  Keswick  heard  about  him  you 
can't  imagine  what  a  change  came  over  her." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  can ;  yes,  I  can,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Brandon, 
—"I  can  imagine  it  very  well." 

"  But  she  didn't  give  up  a  bit,"  said  Mrs.  Null.  "  I 
don't  think  she  ever  does  give  up." 

"You  are  right,  there,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  "quite 
right.  But  what  does  she  propose  to  do? " 

"  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure ;  but  she  said  I  had  no  right 
to  marry  without  the  consent  of  my  surviving  rela 
tives,  and  that  she  was  going  to  look  into  it.  I  can't 
think  what  she  means  by  that." 

Mr.  Brandon  made  no  immediate  answer.  He  gave 
Mrs.  Null  some  damson  preserves,  and  he  took  some 
himself,  and  then  he  helped  himself  to  a  great  hot  roll 
from  a  plate  that  Letty  had  just  brought  in,  and  care 
fully  opening  it  he  buttered  it  on  the  inside,  and 
covered  one  half  of  it  with  the  damson  preserves. 
This  he  began  slowly  to  eat,  drinking  at  times  from 
the  foaming  glass  of  buttermilk  at  the  side  of  his  plate, 
from  which  the  coffee-cup  had  been  removed.  When 

93 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

he  had  finished  the  half-roll  he  again  spoke :  "  I 
think,  my  dear  young  lady,  that  your  aunt  is  desirous 
of  having  your  marriage  set  aside." 

"How  can  she  do  that?"  exclaimed  the  girl,  her 
face  flushing.  "  Has  she  been  talking  to  you  about  it  ?  " 

"I  cannot  deny  that  she  has  spoken  to  me  on  the 
subject,"  he  answered,  "  I  being  a  lawyer.  But  I  will 
say  to  you,  in  strict  confidence,  please,  that  if  you  and 
your  husband  are  sincerely  attached  to  each  other 
there  is  nothing  on  earth  she  can  do  to  separate  you." 

"  Attached  ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Null.  "  It  would  be 
impossible  for  us  to  be  more  attached  than  we  are. 
We  never  have  had  the  slightest  difference,  even  of 
opinion,  since  our  wedding-day.  Why,  I  believe  that 
we  are  more  like  one  person  than  any  married  couple 
in  the  world." 

"I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it,"  said  Mr.  Brandon, 
finishing  his  buttermilk,— "very  glad  indeed.  And, 
feeling  as  you  do,  I  am  certain  that  nothing  your  aunt 
can  say  will  make  any  impression  on  you  in  regard  to 
seeking  a  divorce." 

"I  should  think  not!"  said  Mrs.  Null,  sitting  up 
very  straight.  "  Divorce,  indeed  ! " 

"  I  fully  uphold  you  in  the  stand  you  have  taken," 
said  Mr.  Brandon.  "  But  I  beg  you  will  not  mention 
this  conversation  to  your  aunt.  It  would  only  annoy 
her.  Is  your  cousin  expected  here  shortly  f  " 

"  I  believe  so,"  she  said.  "  To  be  sure,  my  aunt  left 
the  house  the  last  time  he  came,  but  she  has  his  ad 
dress,  and  has  written  for  him.  I  think  she  wants  us 
to  get  acquainted  as  soon  as  possible,  so  that  no  time 
will  be  lost  in  marrying  us  after  poor  Mr.  Null  is  dis 
posed  of." 

94 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Very  good,  very  good,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  with  a 
laugh.  "  A  nd  now,  my  dear  young  friend,  I  want  to 
give  you  a  piece  of  advice.  Stay  here  as  long  as  you 
can.  Your  aunt  will  soon  perceive  the  absurdity  of 
her  ideas  in  regard  to  your  husband,  and  will  cease  to 
annoy  you.  Make  a  friend  of  your  cousin  Junius, 
whom  I  know  and  respeet  highly ;  and  he  certainly 
will  be  of  advantage  to  you.  Above  all  things,  en 
deavor  to  thoroughly  reconcile  him  and  Mrs.  Keswick, 
so  that  she  will  cease  to  oppose  his  wishes,  and  to 
interfere  with  his  future  fortune.  If  you  can  bring 
back  good  feeling  between  these  two,  you  will  be  the 
angel  of  the  family." 

M  Thank  you,"  said  Mrs.  Null,  as  they  rose  from  the 
table. 

The  next  morning,  after  Mr.  Brandon  and  Mrs.  Null 
had  breakfasted  together,  the  mistress  of  the  house, 
having  apparently  finished  the  performance  of  the 
duties  which  had  kept  her  from  the  breakfast-table, 
had  some  conversation  with  her  visitor.  In  this  he 
repeated  very  little  of  what  he  had  said  to  the  younger 
lady  the  night  before,  but  he  assured  Mrs.  Keswick 
that  he  had  discovered  that  it  would  be  a  very  deli 
cate  thing  to  propose  to  her  niece  a  divorce  from  her 
husband,  a  thing  to  which  she  was  not  at  all  inclined, 
as  he  had  found. 

"  Of  course  not !  of  course  not ! "  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Keswick.  "She  can't  be  expected  to  see  what  a 
wretched  plight  she  has  got  herself  into  by  marrying 
this  straggler  from  nobody  knows  where." 

"But,  madam,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  "if  you  worry 
her  about  it,  she  will  leave  you,  and  then  all  will  be 
at  an  end.  Now,  let  me  advise  you  as  your  lawyer. 

95 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Keep  her  here  as  long  as  you  can.  Do  everything 
possible  to  foster  friendship  and  good  feeling  between 
her  and  Junius ;  and  to  do  this  you  must  forget  as  far 
as  possible  all  that  has  gone  by,  and  be  friendly  with 
both  of  them  yourself." 

"  Humph  ! "  said  the  widow  Keswick.  "  I  didn't  ask 
you  for  advice  of  that  sort." 

"It  is  all  a  part  of  the  successful  working  of  the 
case,  madam,"  said  Mr.  Brandon.  "  A  thorough  good 
feeling  must  be  established  before  anything  else  can 
be  done." 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  the  old  lady.  "  She  must  learn 
to  like  us  before  she  begins  to  hate  him.  And  how 
about  your  niece?  Are  you  going  to  send  her  down 
here  to  help  on  in  the  good  feeling? " 

"I  have  not  brought  my  niece  into  this  affair," 
replied  Mr.  Brandon,  with  dignity. 

"Well,  then,  see  that  you  don't,"  was  the  widow 
Keswick's  reply.  And  the  interview  terminated. 

When  Mr.  Brandon  rode  away  on  his  good  horse 
Albemarle,  he  looked  at  the  post  of  the  road  gate,  from 
which  he  was  lifting  the  latch  by  means  of  the  long 
wooden  handle  arranged  for  the  convenience  of  riders, 
and  said  to  himself :  "  John  Keswick  was  a  good  man, 
but  I  don't  wonder  he  came  out  here  and  shot  himself. 
It  is  a  great  pity,  though,  that  it  wasn't  his  wife  who 
did  it,  instead  of  him.  That  would  have  been  a  bless 
ing  to  all  of  us.  But,"  he  added  contemplatively,  as 
he  closed  the  gate,  "  the  people  in  this  world  who  ought 
to  blow  out  their  brains  never  do." 

Soon  after  he  had  gone,  Mrs.  Null  went  up  Pine  Top 
Hill,  and  sat  down  on  the  rock  to  have  a  "think." 
"  Now,  then,  Freddy,"  she  said,  "  everything  depends 

96 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

on  you.  If  you  don't  stand  by  me  I  am  lost— that  is 
to  say,  I  must  go  away  from  here  before  Junius  comes ; 
and  you  know  I  don't  want  to  do  that.  I  want  to  see 
him  on  my  account,  and  on  his  account  too ;  but  I 
don't  want  him  crammed  down  my  throat  for  a  hus 
band  the  moment  he  arrives,  and  that  is  just  what  will 
happen  if  you  don't  do  your  duty,  Mr.  Null.  Even  if 
it  wasn't  for  you,  I  don't  want  to  look  at  him  from  the 
husband  point  of  view,  because,  of  course,  he  is  a  very 
different  person  from  what  he  used  to  be,  and  is  a  total 
stranger  to  me. 

"  It  is  actually  more  than  twelve  years  since  I  have 
seen  him,  and  besides  that,  he  is  just  as  good  as  en 
gaged  to  that  niece  of  Mr.  Brandon's,  who  is  a  horrible 
mixture  of  a  she-wolf  and  a  female  mule,  if  I  am  to 
believe  Aunt  Keswick,  but  I  expect  she  is,  truly,  a 
very  nice  girl.  Though,  to  be  sure,  she  can't  have 
much  spirit  if  she  consented  to  break  off  her  marriage 
just  on  account  of  the  back-handed  benediction  which 
Aunt  Keswick  told  me  she  offered  her  as  a  wedding- 
gift.  If  I  had  wanted  to  marry  a  man  I  would  have 
let  the  old  lady  curse  the  heels  off  her  boots  before  I 
would  have  paid  any  attention  to  her.  Cursing  don't 
hurt  anybody  but  the  curser. 

"  What  I  want  of  Junius  is  to  make  a  friend  of  him, 
if  he  turns  out  to  be  the  right  kind  of  a  person,  and  to 
tell  him  about  this  Mr.  Croft  who  is  so  anxious  to  find 
him.  The  only  person  I  have  met  yet  who  seems  like 
an  ordinary  Christian  is  old  Mr.  Brandon,  and  he's  a 
sly  one,  I'm  afraid.  Aunt  Keswick  thinks  he  stopped 
here  on  his  way  somewhere,  but  I  don't  believe  a  word 
of  it.  I  believe  he  came  for  reasons  of  his  own,  and 
went  right  straight  back  again.  You  are  almost  as 

97 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

much  to  him,  Freddy,  as  you  are  to  me.  It  would 
have  made  you  laugh  if  you  could  have  seen  how  his 
face  lighted  up  when  he  heard  we  were  happy  together, 
and  that  I  would  not  listen  to  a  divorce.  And  yet  I 
am  sure  he  has  promised  Aunt  Keswick  to  see  what 
he  can  do  about  getting  one.  He  wants  me  to  stay 
here  and  make  friends  of  Aunt  Keswick  and  Junius, 
but  he  wouldn't  like  that  if  it  were  not  for  you,  Mr. 
Null.  You  make  everything  safe  for  him. 

"And  now,  Freddy,  I  tell  you  again  that  all  de 
pends  upon  you.  If  I'm  to  stay  here— and  I  want  to 
do  that,  for  a  time  anyway,  for  although  Aunt  Kes 
wick  is  so  awfully  queer,  she's  my  own  aunt,  and  that's 
more  than  I  can  say  for  anybody  else  in  the  world— 
you  must  stiffen  up  and  stand  by  me.  It  won't  do  to 
give  way  for  a  minute.  If  necessary  you  must  take 
tonics,  and  have  a  steel  rod  down  your  back,  if  you 
can't  keep  yourself  erect  without  it.  You  must  have 
your  legs  padded,  and  your  chest  thrown  out ;  and  you 
must  stand  up  very  strong  and  sturdy,  Freddy,  and 
not  let  them  push  you  an  inch  this  way  or  that.  And 
now  that  we  have  made  up  our  minds  on  this  subject, 
we'll  go  down,  for  it's  getting  a  little  cool  on  the  top 
of  this  hill." 


98 


CHAPTER   IX 

ON  the  morning  of  her  uncle's  departure  from  Mid- 
branch,  Roberta  came  out  on  the  porch,  and  took  her 
seat  in  a  large  wooden  arm-chair,  putting  down  her 
key-basket  on  the  floor  beside  her.  The  day  was 
bright  and  sunny,  and  the  shadows  of  two  or  three 
turkey -buzzards,  who  were  circling  in  the  air,  moved 
over  the  field  in  front  of  the  house.  In  this  field  also 
moved,  not  so  fast,  nor  so  gracefully  as  the  shadows, 
two  ploughs,  one  near  by,  and  the  other  at  quite  a 
distance.  The  woods  which  shut  out  a  great  part  of 
the  horizon  showed  many  a  bit  of  color,  but  the  scene, 
although  bright  enough  in  some  of  its  tones,  was  not  a 
cheering  one  to  Roberta  j  and  she  needed  cheering. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  delay  of  her  father  in  mak 
ing  his  winter  visit  to  New  York,  she  would  now  be 
in  that  city ;  but  if  things  had  gone  on  as  she  expected 
they  would,  she  would  have  been  perfectly  satisfied  to 
remain  several  weeks  longer  at  Midbranch.  Junius 
Keswick,  who  had  not  visited  the  house  for  a  long 
time,  had  come  to  them  again ;  and,  now  that  the  sub 
ject  of  love  and  marriage  had  been  set  aside,  it  was 
charming  to  have  him  there  as  a  friend.  They  not 
only  walked  in  the  woods,  but  they  took  long  rides 
over  the  country,  Mr.  Brandon  having  waived  his  ob- 

99 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

jections  in  regard  to  his  niece  riding  about  with  gentle 
men.  She  had  even  been  pleased  with  the  unexpected 
return  of  Lawrence  Croft,  for,  for  reasons  of  her  own, 
she  wished  very  much  to  have  a  talk  with  him.  But 
he  had  not  fulfilled  his  promise  to  her,  and  had  gone 
away  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  manner. 

This  morning  she  felt  a  little  lonely,  too,  for  Junius 
had  left  the  place  before  breakfast,  and  she  did  not 
know  where  he  had  gone ;  and  her  uncle  had  actually 
ridden  away  to  see  that  horrible  widow  Keswick, 
merely  stating  that  his  errand  was  a  business  one,  and 
that  he  would  be  back  the  next  day.  Roberta  knew 
that  there  had  been  a  great  deal  of  business,  particu 
larly  that  of  an  unpleasant  kind,  between  the  two 
families,  but  she  did  not  believe  that  there  was  any 
ordinary  affair  concerning  dollars  and  cents  which 
would  require  the  presence  of  her  uncle  at  the  house 
of  his  old  enemy.  She  was  very  much  afraid  that  he 
had  gone  there  to  try  to  smooth  up  matters  in  regard 
to  Junius  and  herself.  The  thought  of  this  made  her 
indignant.  She  did  not  know  what  her  uncle  would 
say,  and  she  did  not  want  him  to  say  anything.  He 
could  not  make  the  horrible  old  creature  change  her 
mind  in  regard  to  the  marriage,  and  if  this  was  not 
done,  there  was  no  use  discussing  the  matter  at  all ; 
and  she  did  not  wish  people  to  think  she  was  anxious 
for  the  match. 

It  was  plain,  however,  that  her  uncle's  desire  for  it 
had  experienced  a  strong  revival ;  and  the  unexpected 
return  of  Lawrence  Croft  had  probably  had  a  great 
effect  on  him.  He  had  not  objected  to  the  visits  of 
that  gentleman  during  the  summer,  but  he  had  never 
shown  any  strong  liking  for  him,  and  Roberta  said  to 

100 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

herself  that  she  could  not  see,  for  her  part,  why  this 
should  be  j  Mr.  Croft  was  a  thorough  gentleman,  an 
exceedingly  well  educated  and  agreeable  man. 

As  to  Junius,  she  was  afraid  that  he  had  not  the 
spirit  which  she  used  to  think  he  possessed.  There 
was  something  about  him  she  could  not  understand. 
In  former  days,  when  Junius  was  in  New  York,  she 
compared  him  with  the  young  men  there,  very  much 
to  his  advantage,  but  now  Mr.  Croft  seemed  to  throw 
him  somewhat  in  the  background.  "When  Croft  wanted 
to  do  anything  he  did  it  j  even  his  failure  to  come  to 
her  when  he  said  he  would  do  so  showed  strength  of 
will.  If  Junius  had  promised  to  come  he  would  have 
come,  even  if  he  had  not  wanted  to  do  so,  and  there 
would  have  been  something  weak  about  that. 

While  she  thus  sat  thinking,  and  gazing  over  the 
landscape,  she  saw  afar  off,  on  a  portion  of  the  road 
which  ran  alongside  the  woods,  a  vehicle  slowly  mak 
ing  its  way  to  the  house.  Roberta  had  large  and  beau 
tiful  eyes,  but  they  were  not  of  the  kind  which  would 
enable  her  to  discover  at  so  great  a  distance  what  sort 
of  vehicle  this  was,  and  who  was  in  it.  As  the  road 
led  nowhere  but  to  Midbranch,  she  was  naturally  de 
sirous  to  know  who  was  coming.  She  stepped  into 
the  hall,  and,  taking  a  small  bell,  rang  it  vigorously, 
and  in  a  moment  her  youthful  handmaiden  Peggy 
appeared  upon  the  scene.  Peggy's  habit  of  projecting 
her  eyes  into  the  far-away  could  often  be  turned  to  prac 
tical  account,  for  her  vision  was,  in  a  measure,  telescopic. 

"What  is  that  coming  here  along  the  road?"  asked 
Miss  Roberta,  stepping  upon  the  porch,  and  pointing 
out  the  distant  vehicle. 

Peggy  stood  up  straight,  let  her  arms  hang  close  to 
101 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

her  sides,  and  looked  steadfastly  forth.  "  Wot's  comin', 
Miss  Rob,"  said  she,  "  is  de  buggy  'longin'  ter  Mister 
Michaels,  at  de  Springs,  an7  his  ole  mud-colored  hoss 
is  haulin'  it.  Dem  dat's  in  it  is  Mahs'  Junius  an' 
Mister  Oof ." 

"  Are  you  sure  of  that?  "  exclaimed  Miss  Roberta,  in 
astonishment.  "  Look  again." 

"  Yaas'm,"  replied  Peggy.  "  I'se  sartin  shuh.  But 
dey  jes  gwine  behin*  de  trees  now." 

The  road  was  not  again  visible  for  some  distance, 
but  when  the  buggy  reappeared  Peggy  gave  a  start, 
and  exclaimed:  "Dar's  on'y  one  pusson  in  it  now, 
Miss  Rob." 

"Which  is  it?"  exclaimed  her  mistress  quickly, 
shading  her  eyes  and  endeavoring  to  see  for  herself. 

"  It's  Mister  CroP,"  said  Peggy.  "  Mahs'  Junius  mus' 
done  gone  back." 

"  It  is  too  bad ! "  exclaimed  Miss  Roberta.  "  I  will 
not  see  him.  Peggy,"  she  said,  snatching  up  the  key- 
basket  and  stepping  towards  the  hall  door,  "  when  that 
gentleman,  Mr.  Croft,  comes,  you  must  tell  him  that  I 
am  up-stairs  lying  down,  that  I  am  not  well  and  can 
not  see  him,  and  that  your  Master  Robert  is  not  at 
home." 

"  Ef  Mahs'  Junius  come,  does  you  want  me  ter  tell 
him  de  same  thing?" 

"  But  you  said  he  was  not  in  the  buggy,"  said  her 
mistress. 

"  No'm,"  answered  Peggy  ;  "  but  pVaps  he  done  cut 
acrost  de  plough  fiel'  an'  git  h'yar  fus'." 

"  If  he  comes  first,"  said  Miss  Roberta,  a  shade  of 
severity  pervading  her  handsome  features,  "  I  want  to 
see  him."  And  with  this  she  went  up-stairs. 

102 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Peggy  with  her  shoes  on  possessed  the  stolid  steadi 
ness  of  a  wooden  grenadier,  for  the  heaviness  of  the 
massive  boots  seemed  to  permeate  her  whole  being, 
and  communicated  what  might  be  considered  a  slow 
and  heavy  footfall  to  her  intellect.  Peggy  without 
shoes  was  a  panther  on  two  legs,  and  her  mind,  like 
her  body,  was  capable  of  enormous  leaps.  Slipping 
off  her  heavy  brogans,  she  made  a  single  bound  and 
stood  upon  the  railing  of  the  porch,  and,  throwing  her 
arm  around  a  post,  gazed  forth  from  this  point  of 
vantage. 

"Bress  my  eberlastin'  soul!"  she  exclaimed,  "if 
Mister  CroP  ain't  got  ter  de  road  gate,  and  is  a-waitin' 
dar  fur  somebody  ter  come  open  it !  Does  he  think 
anybody  gwine  ter  see  him  all  de  way  from  de  house, 
and  come  open  de  gate?  Reckon  he  don'  know  dat 
ole  mud-color  hoss.  He  mought  git  out  and  let  down 
de  whole  fence,  an'  dat  ole  hoss  'u'd  nebber  move. 
Bress  my  soul  mo'  p'intedly !  ef  Mahs'  Junius  ain't 
comin'  'long  ter  open  de  gate  ! " 

For  a  few  moments  Peggy  stood  and  stared,  her  mind 
not  capable  of  grasping  this  astounding  situation. 
"  No,  he  ain't,  nudder ! "  she  presently  exclaimed,  with 
an  air  of  relief.  "  Mahs'  Junius  done  tole  him  dat  ef  he 
want  dat  gate  open  he  better  git  down  and  open  it 
hese'f.  Dat's  right,  Mahs'  Junius !  Stick  up  ter  dat ! 
Dar  go  Mahs'  Junius  into  de  woods,  an'  Mister  Crof 
he  git  out  an'  go  after  him.  Dey's  gwine  ter  fight, 
sartin  shuh  !  Lordy !  wot  fur  dey  'low  dem  bushes 
ter  grow  'long  de  fence  ter  keep  folks  from  seein'  wot's 
gwine  on ! " 

There  was  nothing  now  to  be  seen  from  the  railing, 
and  Peggy  jumped  down  on  the  porch.  Her  activity 

103 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

seemed  to  pervade  her  being.  She  ran  down  the  front 
steps,  crossed  the  lawn,  and  mounted  the  stile.  Here 
she  could  catch  sight  of  the  two  men,  who  seemed  to 
be  disputing.  This  was  too  much  for  Peggy.  If  there 
was  to  be  a  fight  she  wanted  to  see  it ;  and,  apart  from 
her  curiosity,  she  had  a  loyal  interest  in  the  event. 
Down  the  steps  and  along  the  road  she  went  at  the 
top  of  her  speed,  and  soon  reached  the  gate.  Her 
arrival  was  not  noticed  by  any  one  except  the  mud- 
colored  horse,  who  gazed  at  her  inquiringly ;  and  look 
ing  through  the  bars  without  opening  the  gate,  Peggy 
had  a  good  view  of  the  gentlemen. 

The  situation  was  a  more  simple  one  than  Peggy  had 
imagined.  The  road  for  the  last  half-mile  had  been 
an  uphill  one,  and  Keswick,  as  much  to  stretch  his  own 
legs  as  to  save  those  of  the  horse,  had  alighted  to  walk, 
while  Lawrence,  as  in  duty  bound,  had  waited  for  him 
at  the  gate.  Here  a  little  argument  had  arisen.  Kes 
wick,  who  did  not  wish  to  be  at  the  house,  or  indeed 
about  the  place,  while  Roberta  was  having  her  con 
ference  with  Mr.  Croft,  had  said  that  he  had  concluded 
not  to  go  up  to  the  house  at  present,  but  would  take 
a  walk  through  the  woods  instead.  Lawrence,  who 
thought  he  divined  his  reason,  felt  an  honorable  indis 
position  to  accept  this  advantage  at  the  hands  of  a 
man  who  was,  most  indisputably,  his  rival.  If  they 
went  together  it  would  not  appear  as  if  he  had  waited 
for  Keswick's  absence  to  return ;  and  there  would  still 
be  no  reason  why  he  should  not  have  his  private  walk 
and  talk  with  Miss  March. 

At  all  events,  it  seemed  to  him  unfair  to  leave  Kes 
wick  at  the  gate  while  he  went  up  to  the  house  by 
himself,  and  the  notion  of  it  did  not  please  him  at  all. 

104 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Keswick,  however,  was  very  resolute  in  Ms  opposition. 
He  objected  even  to  seeing  Eoberta  and  Croft  together. 
He  thought,  besides,  if  he  and  Croft  came  to  the  house 
at  the  same  time  it  would  appear  very  much  as  if  he, 
Junius,  had  brought  the  other,  and  this  was  an  ap 
pearance  he  wished  very  much  to  avoid.  He  had 
walked  away,  and  Lawrence  had  jumped  from  the 
buggy  to  continue  the  friendly  argument,  which  was 
not  finished  when  Peggy  arrived.  Almost  immediately 
after  this  event  Keswick  positively  insisted  that  he 
would  go  for  a  walk,  and  Lawrence  reluctantly  turned 
towards  the  vehicle. 

Peggy's  mind  was  filled  with  horror.  Master  Junius 
had  been  frightened  away,  and  the  other  man  was 
coming  up  to  the  house !  She  could  not  stand  there 
and  allow  such  a  catastrophe.  Jerking  open  the  gate, 
she  rushed  into  the  road  and  confronted  Keswick. 

"Mahs'  Junius,"  she  exclaimed,  "Miss  Rob's  orful 
sick  wid  her  back  an7  her  j'ints,  an'  she  say  she  can't 
see  no  kump'ny  folks,  an'  Mahs'  Robert  he  done  gone 
away  ter  see  ole  Miss  Keswick.  I  jes  run  down  h'yar 
ter  tell  you  ter  hurry  up." 

Keswick  started.  "  Where  did  you  say  your  Master 
Robert  had  gone  t " 

"  Ter  ole  Miss  Keswick's.     He  went  dis  mawnin'." 

Junius  turned  slightly  pale,  and,  addressing  Mr. 
Croft,  said  :  "  Something  very  strange  must  have  hap 
pened  here  !  Miss  March  is  ill,  and  Mr.  Brandon  has 
gone  to  a  place  to  which  I  think  nothing  but  a  matter 
of  the  utmost  importance  could  take  him." 

"In  that  case,"  said  Mr.  Croft,  "it  will  be  highly 
improper  for  me  to  go  to  the  house  just  now.  I  am 
very  glad  that  I  heard  the  news  before  I  got  there.  I 

105 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

will  return  to  the  Springs,  and  will  call  to-morrow  and 
inquire  after  Miss  March's  health.  Do  not  let  me  de 
tain  you,  as  your  presence  is  evidently  much  needed 
at  the  house." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Keswick,  hurriedly  shaking 
hands  with  him.  "  I  am  afraid  something  very  unex 
pected  has  happened,  and  so  beg  you  will  excuse  me. 
Good  morning."  And  passing  through  the  gateway, 
he  rapidly  strode  towards  the  house,  while  Lawrence 
prepared  to  turn  his  horse's  head  towards  the  Springs. 

But,  although  Junius  Keswick  walked  rapidly, 
Peggy,  who  had  started  first  for  the  house,  kept  well 
in  advance  of  him.  Away  she  went,  skipping,  run 
ning,  dancing.  Once  she  stopped  and  turned,  and  saw 
that  the  buggy  with  the  mud-colored  horse  was  being 
driven  away,  and  that  Master  Junius  was  coming 
along  the  road  to  the  house  j  then  she  started  off,  and 
ran  steadily,  the  rapid  show  of  the  light-colored  soles 
of  her  feet  behind  her  suggestive  of  a  steamer's  wake. 
Up  the  broad  stile  she  went,  two  steps  at  a  time,  and 
down  the  other  side  in  a  couple  of  jumps ;  a  dozen 
skips  took  her  across  the  lawn ;  and  she  bounded  up 
to  the  porch  as  if  each  wooden  step  had  been  a  spring 
board.  She  rushed  up-stairs,  and  stood  at  the  open 
door  of  Miss  Koberta's  room,  where  that  lady  reclined 
upon  a  lounge. 

"Hi,  Miss  Kob!"  she  exclaimed,  involuntarily 
snapping  her  fingers  as  she  spoke.  "Mahs'  Junius 
comin'  all  by  hese'f,  an'  I  done  sent  de  oder  gemman 
clean  off,  kitin' ! " 


106 


CHAPTER  X 

JUNIUS  KESWICK  was  received  by  Miss  Roberta  in 
the  parlor.  Her  face  was  colder  and  sterner  than  he 
had  ever  seen  it  before,  and  his  countenance  was  very 
much  troubled.  Each  wished  to  speak  first,  and  ask 
questions,  but  the  lady  went  immediately  to  the  front. 

"  How  did  it  happen  that  you  and  Mr.  Croft  were 
coming  here  together?  Where  had  you  been?  " 

"  We  came  from  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs,  where 
I  called  on  him  this  morning." 

"  I  thought  he  was  obliged  to  return  immediately 
to  the  North.  What  made  him  change  his  mind?  " 

"  Perhaps  it  will  be  better  not  to  discuss  that  now," 
said  Junius. 

"  I  wish  to  discuss  it,"  was  the  reply.  "  What  in 
duced  him  not  to  go?  " 

"  I  did,"  answered  Junius,  looking  steadfastly  at  her. 
" Did  you  not  wish  to  see  him? " 

For  a  moment  Miss  Roberta  did  not  answer,  but  her 
face  grew  pale,  and  she  threw  herself  back  in  the  chair 
in  which  she  was  sitting.  "  Never  in  my  life,"  she  said, 
"have  I  been  subjected  to  such  mortification!  Of 
course  I  wished  him  to  come,  but  to  come  of  his  own 
accord,  and  not  at  my  bidding.  How  do  you  suppose 
I  would  have  felt  if  he  had  presented  himself,  and 

107 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

asked  me  what  I  wished  to  say  to  him  ?  It  is  an  insult 
you  have  offered  me." 

"  It  is  not  an  insult/7  said  Keswick,  quietly.  "  It  was 
a  service  of— of  affection.  I  saw  that  you  were  an 
noyed  and  troubled  by  Mr.  Croft's  failure  to  keep  his 
engagement,  and  what  I  did  was  simply—" 

"  Stop  ! "  said  Koberta,  peremptorily.  "  I  do  not 
wish  to  talk  of  it  any  more." 

Junius  stood  before  her  a  moment  in  silence,  and 
then  he  said  :  "  Will  you  tell  me  if  my  Aunt  Keswick 
is  ill  or  dead,  and  why  did  Mr.  Brandon  go  there? " 

"  She  is  neither,"  answered  Roberta ;  "  and  he  went 
there  on  business."  And  with  this  she  arose  and  left 
the  room. 

Peggy,  who  had  been  in  the  hall,  now  made  a  bolt 
down  the  back  stairs  into  the  basement  regions,  where 
was  situated  the  kitchen.  In  this  spacious  apartment 
she  found  Aunt  Judy,  the  cook,  sitting  before  a  large 
wood  fire,  and  holding  in  her  hand  a  long  iron  ladle. 
There  was  nothing  near  her  which  she  could  dip  or 
stir  with  a  ladle,  and  it  was  probably  retained  during 
her  period  of  leisure  as  a  symbol  of  her  position  and 
authority. 

Peggy  squatted  on  her  heels,  close  to  Aunt  Judy's 
side,  and  thus  addressed  her :  "  Ann7  Judy,  ef  I  tell 
you  sumfin,  soul  an*  honor,  hope  o'  glory,  you'll  nebber 
tell?" 

"  Hope  o'  glory,  nebber  ! "  said  Aunt  Judy,  turning 
a  look  of  interest  on  the  girl. 

"Well,  den,  look  h'yar.  You  know  Miss  Rob  she 
got  two  beaux  j  one  is  Mahs'  Junius,  an'  de  oder  is  de 
gemman  wid  de  speckle  trousers  from  de  Norf." 

"  Yes,  I  know  dat,"  said  Aunt  Judy.  «  Has  dey  fit  1 " 
108 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Not  yit,  but  dey  wos  gwine  ter,"  said  Peggy,  "  but 
I  seed  'em,  an'  I  tore  down  de  road  ter  de  gate  whar 
dey  wos  gittin'  ready  ter  fight,  an'  I  jes  let  dat  dar 
Mister  CroP  know  wot  low-down  white  trash  Miss  Rob 
think  he  wos,  an'  den  he  said  ef  dat  war  so  'twa'n't  no 
use  fur  ter  come  in,  an'  he  turn  roun'  de  buggy  an' 
cl'ar'd  out.  Den  Mahs'  Junius  he  come  ter  de  house, 
an'  dar  Miss  Bob  in  de  parlor  waitin'  fur  him.  I  stood 
jes  outside  de  do',  so's  ter  be  out  de  way,  but  Mahs' 
Junius  he  kinder  back  ag'in'  de  do'  an'  shet  it.  But 
I  clap'd  my  year  ter  de  crack,  an'  I  hear  eberything 
dey  said." 

"  Wot  dey  say  f  "  asked  Aunt  Judy,  her  mouth  open, 
her  eyes  dilated,  and  the  long  ladle  trembling  in  her 
hand. 

"  Mahs'  Junius  he  say  ter  Miss  Rob  dat  he  lub  her 
better'n  his  own  skin,  or  de  clouds  in  de  sky,  or  de 
flowers  in  de  fiel'  wot  perish,  an'  dat  de  oder  man  he 
done  cut  an'  run,  an'  would  she  be  Miss  Junius  all  de 
res'  ob  der  libes  forebber  an'  ebber,  amen? " 

"  Dat  wos  pow'ful  movin' ! "  ejaculated  Aunt  Judy. 
"  An'  wot  did  Miss  Rob  say  ?  " 

"  Miss  Rob  she  say,  <  I  'cept  yo'  kind  offer,  sah,  wid 
pleasure.'  An'  den  I  hearn  'em  comin',  an'  I  cut  down 
h'yar." 

"  Glory  !  Hallelujah  ! "  exclaimed  Aunt  Judy, 
bringing  her  ladle  down  upon  the  brick  hearth.  "  Now 
is  I  ready  ter  die  when  my  time  comes,  fur  Mahs'  Ju- 
nius'll  have  dis  farm,  an'  de  house,  an'  de  cabins,  an' 
dey  won't  go  ter  no  strahnger  from  de  Norf." 

"  Amen,"  said  Peggy.  "  An'  Aun'  Judy,  dat  ar  piece 
ob  pie  ain't  no  'count  to  nobuddy." 

"  You  kin  hab  it,  chile,"  said  Aunt  Judy,  rising  and 
109 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

taking  from  a  shelf  a  large  piece  of  cold  apple-pie, 
"  an'  bressed  be  de  foots  ob  dem  wot  fotch  good  tidin's." 

Junius  Keswick  did  not  see  Miss  Roberta  again  that 
day,  and  early  in  the  morning  he  borrowed  one  of  the 
Midbranch  horses,  and  rode  away.  He  did  not  wish  to 
be  at  the  house  when  Mr.  Croft  should  come ;  and, 
besides,  he  was  very  anxious  and  disturbed  in  regard 
to  matters  at  the  Keswick  farm.  Of  all  places  in  the 
world,  why  should  Mr.  Brandon  go  there  ? 

It  was  not  a  very  pleasant  ride  that  Junius  Keswick 
took  that  morning.  He  had  anxieties  in  regard  to 
what  he  would  meet  with  at  his  aunt's  house,  and  he 
had  even  greater  anxieties  as  to  what  he  was  leaving 
behind  him  at  Midbranch.  It  was  quite  evident  that 
Roberta  was  angry  with  him,  and  this  was  enough  to 
sadden  the  soul  of  a  man  who  loved  her  as  he  loved 
her,  who  would  have  married  her  at  any  moment,  in 
spite  of  all  opposition,  all  threats,  all  curses.  He  was 
not  in  the  habit  of  looking  at  himself  after  the  manner 
of  Lawrence  Croft,  but  on  this  occasion  he  could  not 
help  a  little  self -survey.  "Was  it  a  purely  disinterested 
motive,  he  asked  himself,  that  took  him  over  to  the 
Springs  to  bring  back  Lawrence  Croft?  Did  he  not 
believe  in  his  soul  that  Roberta  would  never  have 
spoken  so  freely  to  him  in  regard  to  what  the  gentle 
man  from  the  North  would  probably  say  to  her  if  she 
had  not  intended  to  decline  that  gentleman's  offer? 
And  was  there  not  a  wish  in  his  heart  that  this  matter 
might  be  definitely  and  satisfactorily  settled  before 
Roberta  and  Mr.  Croft  went  to  New  York  for  the 
winter?  He  could  not  deny  that  this  issue  to  the 
affair  had  been  in  his  mind ;  and  yet  he  felt  that  he 
could  conscientiously  assure  himself  that  if  he  had 

110 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

thought  things  would  turn  out  otherwise,  he  still  would 
have  endeavored  to  make  the  man  perform  the  duty 
expected  of  him  by  Roberta,  in  whose  service  Junius 
always  felt  himself  to  be.  But,  apparently,  he  had 
not  benefited  himself  or  anybody  else,  except,  perhaps, 
Croft,  by  this  service  which  he  had  performed. 

It  was  late  in  the  forenoon  when  Junius  met  Mr. 
Brandon  returning  to  Midbranch.  In  answer  to  his 
expressions  of  surprise,  Mr.  Brandon,  who  appeared  in 
an  exceptionally  good  humor,  informed  Junius  of  his 
reasons  for  the  visit  to  the  widow  Keswick,  and  what 
he  had  found  when  he  arrived  there. 

"  Your  little  cousin,"  said  he,  "  is  a  most  charming 
young  creature,  and  on  interested  motives  I  should 
oppose  your  going  to  your  aunt's  house,  were  it  not 
for  the  fact  that  she  is  married,  and,  therefore,  of  no 
danger  to  you.  I  was  very  glad  to  find  her  there. 
Her  influence  over  your  aunt  will,  I  think,  be  highly 
advantageous,  and  the  first-fruit  of  it  is  that  the  old 
lady  will  now  welcome  you  with  open  arms.  Would 
you  believe  it !  she  has  already  announced  that  she 
wishes  to  make  a  match  between  you  and  this  little 
cousin ;  and  in  order  to  do  so,  has  actually  engaged  me 
to  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  divorce  between  the 
young  lady  and  her  absent  husband.  The  widow  Kes 
wick  has  as  many  cranks  and  crotchets  in  her  head  as 
there  are  seeds  in  a  tobacco-pod ;  but  this  is  the  queer 
est  and  the  wildest  of  them  all.  The  couple  seem  very 
much  attached  to  each  other,  and  nothing  can  be  said 
against  the  husband  except  that  he  did  not  accompany 
his  wife  on  her  visit  to  her  relatives ;  and  if  he  knew 
anything  about  the  old  lady  I  don't  blame  him  a  bit. 
Now  your  course,  my  dear  boy,  is  perfectly  plain.  Let 

111 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

your  aunt  talk  as  inuch  as  she  pleases  about  this 
divorce  and  your  union  with  the  little  Annie.  It 
won't  hurt  anybody,  and  she  must  talk  herself  out  in 
time.  In  the  meantime  take  advantage  of  the  present 
circumstances  to  mollify  and  tone  down,  so  to  speak, 
the  good  old  lady.  Make  her  understand  that  we  are 
all  her  friends,  and  that  there  is  no  one  in  the  connec 
tion  who  would  wish  to  do  her  the  slightest  harm. 
This  would  be  our  Christian  duty  at  any  time,  but  it 
is  more  particularly  our  duty  now.  I  would  like  you 
to  bring  your  cousin  over  to  see  us  before  Roberta  goes 
away.  I  invited  her  to  come,  and  told  her  that  my 
niece  would  first  call  upon  her  were  it  not  for  the 
peculiar  circumstances.  But  if  the  families  can  be  in 
a  measure  brought  together,— and  I  shall  make  it  a 
point  to  ride  over  there  occasionally,— if  your  aunt  can 
be  made  to  understand  the  kindly  feelings  we  really 
have  towards  her,  and  can  be  induced  to  set  aside,  even 
in  a  slight  degree,  the  violent  prejudice  she  now  holds 
against  us,  all  may  yet  turn  out  well.  Now  go,  my 
boy,  and  may  the  best  of  success  go  with  you.  Don't 
trouble  yourself  about  sending  back  the  horse.  Keep 
him  as  long  as  you  want  him." 

Mr.  Brandon  rode  on,  leaving  Junius  to  pursue  his 
way.  "It  is  very  pleasant,"  thought  the  young  man, 
who  had  said  scarcely  a  word  during  the  interview, 
"  to  hear  Mr.  Brandon  talk  about  all  turning  out  well, 
but  when  he  gets  home  he  may  discover  that  there  is 
something  to  be  done  at  Midbranch  as  well  as  on  the 
Keswick  place." 

Mr.  Brandon's  reflections  were  very  different  from 
those  of  Junius.  It  appeared  to  him  that  a  reconcilia 
tion  between  the  two  families,  even  though  it  should 

112 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

be  a  partial  one,  was  reasonably  to  be  expected. 
That  newly  arrived  cousin  was  an  angel.  She  was 
bound  to  do  good.  A  marriage  between  his  niece 
and  Junius  Keswick  was  the  great  object  of  the  old 
gentleman's  heart,  and  he  longed  to  see  the  former 
engagement  between  them  reestablished  before  Ko- 
berta  went  to  New  York,  where  her  beauty  and  at 
tractiveness  would  expose  his  cherished  plan  to  many 
dangers. 

The  road  he  was  on  led  directly  north,  and  it  was 
joined  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above  by  the  road 
which  ran  through  the  woods  to  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs.  On  this  road,  at  a  point  nearly  opposite  to 
him,  he  could  see,  through  the  foliage,  a  horseman  rid 
ing  towards  the  point  of  junction.  Something  about 
this  person  attracted  his  attention,  and  Mr.  Brandon 
took  out  a  pair  of  eye-glasses  and  put  them  on.  As 
soon  as  he  had  obtained  another  good  view  of  the 
horseman  he  recognized  him  as  Mr.  Croft.  The  old 
gentleman  took  off  his  glasses  and  returned  them  to  his 
vest  pocket,  and  his  face  began  to  flush.  In  his  early 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  Croft  he  had  not  objected  to 
him,  because  he  wished  his  niece  to  have  company, 
and  he  had  a  firm  belief  in  the  enduring  quality  of  her 
affection  for  Junius.  But  latterly  his  ideas  in  regard 
to  the  New  York  gentleman  had  changed.  He  had 
thought  him  somewhat  too  assiduous,  and  when  he  had 
unexpectedly  returned  from  the  North,  Mr.  Brandon 
had  not  been  at  all  pleased,  although  he  had  been 
careful  not  to  show  his  displeasure.  This  condition  of 
things  made  him  feel  uneasy,  and  had  prompted  his 
visit  to  the  widow  Keswick.  And  now  that  everything 
looked  so  fair  and  promising,  here  was  that  man,  whom 

113 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

he  had  supposed  to  have  left  this  part  of  the  country, 
riding  towards  his  house. 

Mr.  Brandon  was  an  easy-going  man,  but  he  had  a 
backbone  which  could  be  greatly  stiffened  on  occasion. 
He  sat  up  very  straight  on  his  horse,  and  urged  the 
animal  to  a  better  pace,  so  that  he  arrived  first  at  the 
point  where  the  roads  met.  Here  he  awaited  Mr. 
Croft,  who  soon  rode  up.  The  old  gentleman's  greet 
ing  was  very  courteous. 

"  You  are  on  the  way  to  my  house,  I  presume,'7  he 
said. 

Mr.  Croft  assured  him  that  he  was,  and  hoped  that 
Miss  March  was  quite  well. 

"  I  have  been  from  home  for  a  little  while,"  said  Mr. 
Brandon,  "but  I  believe  my  niece  enjoys  her  usual 
health.  I  have  had  a  long  ride  this  morning,"  he 
continued,  "  and  feel  a  little  tired.  "Would  it  incon 
venience  you,  sir,  if  we  should  dismount  and  sit  for 
a  time  on  yonder  log  by  the  roadside  ?  It  would  rest 
me,  and  I  would  like  to  have  a  little  talk  with  you." 

Lawrence  wondered  very  much  that  the  old  gentle 
man  should  want  to  rest  when  he  was  not  a  mile  from 
his  own  house,  but  of  course  he  consented  to  the  pro 
posed  plan,  and  imitated  Mr.  Brandon  by  riding  under 
a  large  tree,  and  fastening  his  bridle  to  a  low-hang 
ing  bough.  The  two  gentlemen  seated  themselves  on 
the  log,  and  Mr.  Brandon,  without  preface,  began  his 
remarks. 

"May  I  be  pardoned  for  supposing,  sir,"  he  said, 
"  that  your  present  visit  to  my  house  is  intended  for 
my  niece?" 

Lawrence  looked  at  him  a  little  earnestly,  and  re 
plied  that  it  was  so  intended. 

114 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Then,  sir,  I  think  I  have  the  right  to  ask,  as  my 
niece's  present  guardian,  and  almost  indeed  as  her 
father,  whether  or  not  your  visit  is  connected  in  any 
way  with  matrimonial  overtures  towards  that  lady  ?  " 

Not  wishing  to  foolishly  and  dishonorably  deny  that 
such  was  his  purpose  in  going  to  Midbranch,  and  feel 
ing  that  it  would  be  as  unwise  to  decline  answering 
the  question  as  it  would  be  unmanly  to  resort  to  sub 
terfuge  about  it7  Lawrence  replied  that  his  object  in 
visiting  Miss  March  that  day  was  to  make  matrimonial 
overtures  to  her. 

"I  think,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  "that  you  will  be 
obliged  to  me  if  I  make  you  acquainted  with  the 
present  condition  of  affairs  between  Miss  March  and 
Mr.  Junius  Keswick." 

"  Has  not  their  engagement  been  broken  off?  "  in 
terrupted  Lawrence. 

"  Only  conditionally,"  answered  the  old  gentleman. 
"They  love  each  other.  They  wish  to  be  married. 
With  one  exception,  all  their  relatives  desire  that 
they  should  marry.  It  would  be  a  union,  not  only 
congenial  in  the  highest  degree  to  the  parties  con 
cerned,  but  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  our  family 
and  our  family  fortunes.  There  is  but  a  single  obsta 
cle  to  this  most  desirable  union,  and  that  is  the  un 
warrantable  opposition  of  one  person.  But  I  am 
happy  to  say  that  this  opposition  is  on  the  point  of 
being  removed.  I  consider  it  to  be  but  a  matter  of 
days  when  my  niece  and  Mr.  Keswick,  with  the  full 
approbation  of  the  relatives  on  either  side,  will  renew 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world  that  engagement  which  I  con 
sider  still  exists  in  fact." 

"If  this  is  so,"  said  Lawrence,  grinding  his  heel 

115 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

very  deeply  into  the  ground,  "why  was  I  not  told 
of  it?" 

"  My  dear  sir  ! "  exclaimed  Mr.  Brandon,  "  have  you 
ever  intimated  to  me  or  to  any  of  my  family  that  your 
intentions  in  visiting  Midbranch  were  other  than  those 
of  an  ordinary  friend  or  acquaintance? " 

Lawrence  admitted  that  he  had  never  made  any 
such  intimation. 

"  Then,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  "  what  reason  could 
we  have  for  mentioning  this  subject  to  you— a  subject 
that  would  not  have  been  referred  to  now,  had  it  not 
been  for  your  admission  of  your  intended  object  in 
visiting  my  house  ?  " 

Lawrence  had  no  answer  to  make  to  this,  but  it  was 
not  easy  to  turn  him  from  his  purpose.  "  Excuse  me, 
sir,"  he  said,  "  but  I  think  a  matter  of  this  sort  should 
be  left  to  the  lady.  If  she  is  not  inclined  to  receive 
my  addresses  she  will  say  so,  and  there  is  an  end 
of  it." 

The  face  of  Mr.  Brandon  slightly  reddened,  but  his 
voice  remained  as  quiet  and  courteous  as  before. 
"  You  do  not  comprehend,  sir,  the  state  of  affairs,  or 
you  would  see  that  a  procedure  of  that  kind  would 
be  extremely  ill-judged  at  this  time.  Were  it  known 
that  at  this  critical  moment  Miss  March  was  addressed 
by  another  suitor,  it  would  seriously  jeopardize  the 
success  of  plans  which  we  all  have  very  much  at 
heart." 

Lawrence  did  not  immediately  reply  to  this  crafty 
speech.  His  teeth  were  very  firmly  set,  and  he  looked 
steadfastly  before  him.  "  I  do  not  understand  all  this," 
he  said  presently,  "  nor  do  I  see  that  there  is  any  need 
for  my  understanding  it.  In  fact,  I  have  nothing  to 

116 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

do  with  it.  I  wish,  to  propose  marriage  to  Miss  March. 
If  she  declines  my  offer  there  is  an  end  of  the  matter. 
If  she  accepts  me,  then  it  is  quite  proper  that  all  your 
plans  should  fall  to  the  ground.  She  is  the  principal 
in  the  affair,  and  it  is  due  to  her  and  due  to  me  that 
she  should  make  the  decision  in  this  case." 

Mr.  Brandon  had  not  quite  so  many  teeth  as  his 
younger  companion,  but  the  very  fair  number  which 
remained  with  him  were  set  together  quite  as  firmly 
as  those  of  Lawrence  had  been.  He  remarked,  speak 
ing  very  distinctly  but  without  any  show  of  emotion  : 
"  I  see,  sir,  that  it  is  quite  impossible  for  us  to  think 
alike  on  this  subject,  and  there  is,  therefore,  nothing 
left  for  me  to  do  but  to  ask  you— and  I  assure  you, 
sir,  that  the  request  is  as  destitute  of  any  intention  of 
discourtesy  as  if  it  were  based  upon  the  presence  of 
sickness  or  family  affliction— that  you  will  not  visit 
my  house  at  present." 

Lawrence  rose  to  his  feet  with  a  good  deal  of  color 
in  his  face.  "  That  settles  the  matter  for  the  present," 
he  said.  "  Of  course  I  shall  not  go  to  a  house  which 
is  forbidden  to  me.  I  wish  you  good  morning,  sir." 
And  he  stalked  to  his  horse,  and  endeavored  to  pull 
down  the  limb  to  which  its  bridle  was  attached. 

Mr.  Brandon  followed  him.  "  You  must  mount  be 
fore  you  can  unfasten  your  bridle,"  he  said.  "And 
allow  me  to  assure  you,  sir,  that  as  soon  as  this  little 
affair  is  settled  I  shall  be  very  happy  indeed  to  see 
you  again  at  my  house." 

Lawrence,  having  succeeded  in  loosening  his  bridle 
from  the  tree,  made  answer  with  a  bow,  and  galloped 
away  to  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs. 

Mr.  Brandon  now  mounted  and  rode  home.  This 
117 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

was  the  first  time  in  his  life  that  he  had  ever  forbidden 
any  one  to  visit  Midbranch,  and  yet  he  did  not  feel 
that  he  had  been  either  discourteous  or  inhospitable. 
"  There  are  times/7  he  said  to  himself,  "  when  a  man 
must  stand  up  for  his  own  interest ;  and  this  is  one  of 
the  times." 


118 


CHAPTEE  XI 

IN  the  little  dining-room  of  the  cottage  at  the  Green 
Sulphur  Springs  sat  that  evening  Lawrence  Croft,  a 
perturbed  and  angry  but  a  resolute  man.  He  had 
been  quite  a  long  time  coming  to  the  conclusion  to 
propose  to  Eoberta  March,  and  now  that  he  had  made 
up  his  mind  to  do  so,  even  in  spite  of  certain  convic 
tions,  it  naturally  aroused  his  indignation  to  find  him 
self  suddenly  stopped  short  by  such  an  insignificant 
person  as  Mr.  Brandon,  a  gentleman  to  whom,  in  this 
affair,  he  had  given  no  consideration  whatever.  The 
fact  that  the  lady  wished  to  see  him  added  much  to 
his  annoyance  and  discomfiture.  He  had  no  idea  what 
reason  she  had  for  desiring  an  interview  with  him,  but 
whatever  she  should  say  to  him  he  intended  to  follow 
by  a  declaration  of  his  sentiments.  He  had  not  the 
slightest  notion  in  the  world  of  giving  up  the  prosecu 
tion  of  his  suit ;  but  having  been  requested  not  to  come 
to  Midbranch,  what  was  he  to  do  I  He  might  write  to 
Miss  March,  but  that  would  not  suit  him.  In  a  matter 
like  this  he  would  wish  to  adapt  his  words  and  his 
manner  to  the  moods  and  disposition  of  the  lady,  and 
he  could  not  do  this  in  a  letter.  When  he  wooed  a 
woman,  he  must  see  her  and  speak  to  her.  To  any 
clandestine  approach,  any  whispered  conversation 

119 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

beneath  her  window,  he  would  give  no  thought. 
Having  been  asked  by  the  master  of  the  house  not  to 
go  there,  he  would  not  go.  But  he  would  see  her,  and 
tell  his  love ;  and,  more  than  that,  he  would  win  her. 
That  morning,  while  waiting  for  the  time  to  ap 
proach  when  it  would  be  proper  for  him  to  go  to  Mid- 
branch,  he  had  been  reading  in  a  bound  volume  of  an 
old  English  magazine,  which  was  one  of  the  five  books 
the  cottage  possessed,  an  account  of  a  battle  which  had 
interested  him  very  much.  The  commander  of  one 
army  had  massed  his  forces  along  and  below  the  crest 
of  a  line  of  low  hills,  the  extreme  right  of  his  line  being 
occupied  by  a  strong  force  of  cavalry.  The  army 
opposed  to  him  was  much  stronger  than  his  own,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  the  battle  began  to  go  very 
much  against  him.  His  positions  on  the  left  were 
carried  by  the  combined  charge  of  the  larger  portion 
of  the  enemy's  forces,  and,  in  spite  of  a  vigorous  resist 
ance,  his  lines  were  forced  back,  down  the  hill,  and 
into  the  valley.  It  was  quite  evident  he  could  make 
no  stand,  and  was  badly  beaten.  Thereupon  he  sent 
orders  to  his  generals  on  the  left  to  retreat,  in  as  good 
order  as  possible,  across  a  small  river  in  their  rear. 
While  this  movement  was  in  progress,  and  the  enemy 
was  making  the  greatest  efforts  to  prevent  it,  the  com 
mander  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  cavalry  and  led 
them  swiftly  from  the  scene  of  battle.  He  took  them 
diagonally  over  the  crest  of  the  hill,  down  the  other 
side,  and  then,  charging  with  this  fresh  body  of  horse 
upon  the  rear  and  camp  of  the  enemy,  he  swiftly  cap 
tured  the  general-in-chief,  his  staff,  and  the  minister 
of  war,  who  had  come  down  to  see  how  things  were 
going  on.  With  these  important  prisoners  he  dashed 

120 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

away,  leaving  the  acephalous  enemy  to  capture  his 
broken  columns  if  he  could. 

This  was  the  kind  of  thing  Lawrence  Croft  would 
like  to  do.  For  an  hour  or  more  he  puzzled  his  brains 
as  to  how  he  should  make  such  a  cavalry  charge,  and 
at  last  he  came  to  a  determination:  he  would  ask 
Junius  Keswick  to  assist  him.  There  was  something 
odd  about  this  plan  which  pleased  Croft.  Keswick  was 
his  rival,  with  the  powerful  backing  of  Mr.  Brandon 
and  a  whole  tribe  of  relatives,  and  it  might  naturally 
be  supposed  that  he  was  the  last  man  in  the  world  of 
whom  he  would  ask  assistance.  But,  looking  at  it  from 
his  point  of  view,  Lawrence  thought  that  not  only 
would  he  be  taking  no  undue  advantage  of  the  other 
in  asking  him  to  help  him  in  this  matter,  but  that 
Keswick  ought  not  and  would  not  object  to  it.  If 
Miss  March  really  preferred  Croft,  Keswick  should 
feel  himself  bound  in  honor  to  do  everything  he  could 
to  let  the  two  settle  the  affair  between  themselves. 
This  was  drawing  the  point  very  fine,  but  Lawrence 
persuaded  himself  that  if  the  case  were  reversed  he 
would  not  marry  a  girl  who  had  not  chosen  another 
man  simply  because  she  had  had  no  opportunity  of 
doing  so.  He  had  a  strong  belief  that  Keswick  was 
of  his  way  of  thinking,  and  before  he  went  to  bed 
he  wrote  his  rival  a  note,  asking  him  to  call  upon  him 
the  following  day. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  note  was  carried  over 
to  Midbranch  by  a  messenger,  who  returned,  saying 
that  Mr.  Keswick  had  gone  away,  and  that  his  present 
address  was  Hewlett's  in  the  same  county.  This  piece 
of  information  caused  Lawrence  Croft  to  open  his  eyes 
very  wide.  A  few  days  before  he  had  received  a  letter 

121 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

from  Mrs.  Null,  written  at  Hewlett's,  and  now  Keswick 
had  gone  there.  He  had  been  very  much  surprised 
when  he  found  that  the  cashier  had  so  successfully 
carried  on  the  search  for  Keswick  as  to  come  into  the 
very  county  in  Virginia  where  he  was ;  and  he  in 
tended  to  write  to  her  that  he  had  no  further  occasion 
for  her  services  j  but  he  had  not  done  so,  and  here 
were  the  pursuer  and  the  pursued  in  the  same  town, 
or  village,  or  whatever  Hewlett's  was.  He  gave  Mrs. 
Null  credit  for  being  one  of  the  best  detectives  he  had 
ever  heard  of ;  for,  apparently,  she  had  not  only  been 
able  to  successfully  track  the  man  she  was  in  search  of, 
but  to  find  out  where  he  was  going,  and  had  reached 
the  place  in  question  before  he  did.  But  he  also  be 
rated  her  soundly  in  his  mind  for  her  over-officious- 
ness.  He  had  not  wished  her  to  swoop  down  upon  the 
man,  but  only  to  inform  him  of  his  whereabouts.  The 
next  thing  that  would  probably  happen  would  be  the 
appearance  of  Mrs.  Null  at  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs, 
holding  Keswick  by  the  collar.  He  deeply  regretted 
that  he  had  ever  intrusted  this  young  woman  with  the 
investigation,  not  because  he  had  since  met  Keswick 
himself,  but  for  the  reason  that  she  was  entirely  too 
energetic  and  imprudent.  If  Keswick  should  find  out 
from  her  that  she  had  been  in  search  of  him,  and  why, 
it  might  bring  about  a  very  unpleasant  state  of  affairs. 
Croft  saw  now,  quite  plainly,  what  he  must  do.  He 
must  go  to  Hewlett's  as  quickly  as  possible.  Perhaps 
Keswick  and  the  cashier  had  not  yet  met,  and,  in  that 
case,  all  he  would  have  to  do  would  be  to  remunerate 
the  young  woman  and  her  husband— lor  she  had  in 
formed  him  that  she  intended  to  combine  this  business 
with  a  wedding-tour— and  send  them  off  immediately. 

122 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

He  could  then  have  his  conference  with  Keswick  there 
as  well  as  at  the  Springs.  If  any  mischief  had  already 
been  done,  he  did  not  know  what  course  he  might  have 
to  pursue,  but  it  was  highly  necessary  for  him  to  be 
on  the  spot  as  soon  as  possible.  He  greatly  disliked  to 
leave  the  neighborhood  of  Roberta  March,  but  his 
absence  would  only  be  temporary. 

After  an  early  dinner,  he  mounted  the  horse  which 
he  had  hired  from  his  host  of  the  Springs,  and,  with 
a  valise  strapped  behind  him,  set  out  for  Hewlett's. 
He  had  made  careful  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  road, 
and  after  a  ride  somewhat  tiresome  to  a  man  not  used 
to  such  protracted  horseback  exercise,  arrived  at  his 
destination  about  sundown.  When  he  reached  the 
scattered  houses  which  formed,  as  he  supposed,  the 
outskirts  of  the  village,  for  such  he  had  been  told  it 
was,  he  rode  on,  but  soon  found  that  he  had  left  How- 
lett's  behind  him,  and  that  those  supposed  outskirts 
was  the  place  itself.  Hewlett's  was  nothing,  in  fact, 
but  a  collection  of  eight  or  ten  houses  quite  widely 
separated  from  one  another,  and  the  only  one  of  them 
which  exhibited  any  public  character  whatever  was 
the  store,  a  large  frame  building  standing  a  little  back 
from  the  road.  Turning  his  horse,  Lawrence  rode  up 
to  the  store  and  inquired  if  there  was  any  house  in  the 
neighborhood  where  he  could  get  lodging  for  the  night. 

The  storekeeper,  who  came  out  to  him,  was  a  very 
little  man,  whose  appearance  recalled  to  Croft  the  fact 
that  he  had  noticed,  in  this  part  of  the  State,  a  great 
many  men  who  were  extremely  tall,  and  a  great  many 
who  were  extremely  small,  which  peculiarity,  he 
thought,  might  assist  a  physiologist  in  discovering  the 
different  effects  of  hot  bread  upon  different  organiza- 

123 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

tions.  He  was  quite  as  cordial,  however,  as  the  big 
gest,  burliest,  and  j  oiliest  host  who  ever  welcomed  a 
guest  to  his  inn,  as  he  informed  Mr.  Croft  that  there 
was  no  house  in  the  village  which  made  a  business  of 
entertaining  strangers,  but  if  he  chose  to  stop  with 
him  he  would  keep  him  and  his  horse  for  the  night, 
and  do  what  he  could  to  make  him  comfortable. 

Lawrence  ate  supper  that  night  with  the  store 
keeper,  his  wife,  and  five  of  his  children ;  but  as  he 
was  very  hungry,  and  the  meal  was  a  plentiful  one, 
he  enjoyed  the  experience. 

"I  suppose  you're  goin'  on  to  "Westerville  in  the 
mornin'  1 "  said  the  little  host. 

" No,"  replied  Croft  j  "  I  am  not  going  any  farther 
than  this  place.  Do  you  know  if  a  gentleman  named 
Keswick  arrived  here  recently  t " 

"  Why,  yaas,"  said  the  man,  "  if  you  mean  Junius 
Keswick." 

"Certainly  he  did,"  said  Mrs.  Storekeeper.  "He 
rode  through  here  yesterday,  and  he  stopped  at  the 
store  to  see  if  we  had  any  of  that  Lynchburg  tobacco 
he  used  to  smoke  when  he  lived  here.  He's  gone  on 
to  his  aunt's." 

"Where  is  that?"  asked  Croft. 

"  It's  about  two  miles  out  on  the  Westerville  road," 
said  the  little  man.  "  If  I'd  knowed  you  wanted  to  see 
him,  I'd  'a'  told  you  to  keep  right  on,  and  you  could 
'a'  stopped  with  Mrs.  Keswick  overnight." 

Lawrence  wished  to  ask  some  questions  about  Mrs. 
Null,  but  he  was  afraid  to  do  so  lest  he  might  excite 
suspicions  by  connecting  her  with  Keswick.  If  the 
latter  had  gone  two  miles  out  of  town,  perhaps  she 
had  not  yet  seen  him. 

124 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

The  room  in  which  Lawrence  slept  that  night  was 
to  him  a  very  odd  one.  It  was  a  long  apartment,  at 
one  end  of  which  was  a  clean,  comfortable  bed,  a 
couple  of  chairs,  and  a  table  on  which  was  a  basin 
and  pitcher.  At  the  other  end  were  piles  of  new-look 
ing  boxes,  containing  groceries  of  various  kinds,  rolls 
of  cotton  cloth  and  other  dry-goods,  and,  what  at 
tracted  his  attention  more  than  anything  else,  a  vast 
number  of  bright  tin  cans,  bearing  on  their  sides  bril 
liant  pictures  of  tomatoes,  peaches,  green  corn,  and 
other  preservable  eatables.  These  were  evidently  the 
reserved  stores  of  the  establishment,  and  they  were  so 
different  from  the  bedroom  decorations  to  which  he 
was  accustomed  that  it  quite  pleased  Lawrence  to 
think  that  with  all  his  experience  in  life  he  was  now 
lodged  in  a  manner  entirely  novel  to  him.  As  he  lay 
awake  looking  at  the  moonlight  glittering  on  the  sides 
of  the  multitude  of  cans,  the  thought  came  into  his 
mind  that  this  had  probably  been  the  room  of  the 
Nulls  when  they  were  here. 

"  As  this  is  the  only  house  in  the  place  where  travel 
lers  are  entertained,'7  he  said  to  himself,  "  of  course 
they  must  have  come  to  it.  And  as  they  are  not  here 
now,  it  is  quite  plain  that  they  must  have  gone  away. 
I  am  very  glad  of  it,  especially  if  they  left  before 
Keswick  arrived,  for  their  departure  probably  pre 
vented  an  awkward  situation.  But  I  shall  ask  the 
storekeeper  no  questions  about  these  people.  There 
is  no  better  way  of  giving  inquisitive  folk  the  entree  to 
your  affairs  than  by  asking  questions.  Of  course  there 
was  no  reason  why  they  should  stay  here  after  they 
had  successfully  traced  Keswick  to  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  every  reason,  if  they  wanted  to  enjoy 

125 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

themselves,  why  they  should  go  away.  But  I  can't 
help  being  sorry  that  I  did  not  meet  the  young  woman, 
and  have  an  opportunity  of  paying  her  for  her  trouble, 
and  giving  her  a  few  words  of  advice  in  regard  to  her 
action,  or  rather  non-action,  in  this  matter.  She  has 
a  fine  head  for  business,  but  I  should  like  to  feel  cer 
tain  that  she  understands  that  her  business  with  me  is 
over."  And  he  turned  his  eyes  from  the  glittering 
cans,  and  slept. 

The  next  morning  Lawrence  Croft  rode  on  to  Mrs. 
Keswick's  house,  and  when  he  reached  the  second  or 
inner  gate,  he  saw,  on  the  other  side  of  it,  an  elderly 
female,  wearing  a  purple  sunbonnet  and  carrying  a 
purple  umbrella.  There  was  something  very  eccentric 
about  the  garb  of  this  elderly  personage,  and  many  an 
inexperienced  city  man  would  have  taken  her  for  a 
retired  nurse,  or  some  other  domestic  retainer  of  the 
family ;  but  there  was  a  steadfastness  in  her  gaze,  and 
a  fire  in  her  eye,  which  indicated  to  Lawrence  that 
she  was  one  much  more  accustomed  to  give  orders 
than  to  take  them.  He  raised  his  hat  very  politely, 
and  asked  if  Mr.  Keswick  was  to  be  found  there. 

If  the  commander  of  the  army  about  whom  Mr. 
Croft  had  recently  been  reading  had  beheld  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  battle  a  strong,  friendly  force  ad 
vancing  to  his  aid,  he  would  not  have  been  more  de 
lighted  than  Lawrence  would  have  been  had  he  known 
what  a  powerful  ally  to  his  cause  stood  beneath  that 
purple  sunbonnet. 

"Do  you  mean  Junius  Keswick?"  said  the  old 
lady. 

"  Yes,  madam,"  answered  Croft. 

"  He  is  here,  and  you  will  find  him  at  the  house." 
126 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

The  gate  was  partly  open,  and  Lawrence  rode  in. 
The  old  lady  stepped  aside  to  let  him  pass. 

"Do  you  want  to  see  him  on  business?"  she  said. 

"How  did  you  know  he  was  here?" 

"  I  inquired  at  Hewlett's,  madam." 

Mrs.  Keswick  would  have  liked  to  ask  some  further 
questions,  but  there  was  something  about  Lawrence's 
appearance  that  deterred  her. 

"  You  can  tie  your  horse  under  that  tree  over  there," 
she  said,  pointing  to  a  spot  more  trampled  by  hoofs 
than  the  old  lady  wished  any  other  portion  of  her 
house-yard  to  be. 

When  Lawrence  had  tied  his  bridle  to  a  hook  sus 
pended  by  a  strap  from  one  of  the  lower  branches  of 
the  indicated  tree,  he  advanced  to  the  house ;  and  a 
very  much  astonished  man  was  he,  to  see  sitting  side 
by  side  on  the  porch,  Junius  Keswick  and  Mr.  Candy's 
cashier.  They  were  seated  in  the  shade  of  a  mass  of 
honeysuckle  vines,  and  were  so  busily  engaged  in  con 
versation  that  they  had  not  perceived  his  approach. 
Even  now  Lawrence  had  time  to  look  at  them  for  a 
few  moments  before  they  turned  their  eyes  upon  him. 

Equally  astonished  were  the  two  people  on  the  porch, 
who  now  rose  to  their  feet.  Junius  Keswick  naturally 
wondered  very  much  why  Mr.  Croft  should  come  to 
see  him  here ;  and  as  for  the  young  lady,  she  was  al 
most  as  much  terrified  as  surprised.  Had  this  man 
come  down  from  New  York  to  swoop  upon  her  cousin? 
Had  it  been  possible  that  she  could  have  given  him 
any  idea  of  the  whereabouts  of  Junius?  In  her  last 
note  to  him  she  had  been  very  careful  to  promise  in 
formation,  but  not  to  give  any,  hoping  thus  to  gain 
time  to  get  an  insight  into  the  matter,  and  to  keep  her 

127 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

cousin  out  of  danger,  if,  indeed,  any  danger  threatened. 
But  here  the  pursuer  had  found  Junius  in  less  than  a 
day  after  she  had  first  met  him  herself.  But  when  she 
saw  Junius  advance  and  shake  hands  in  a  very  friendly 
way  with  Mr.  Croft,  her  terror  began  to  decrease,  al 
though  her  surprise  continued  at  the  same  high-water 
mark ;  and  Keswick  found  himself  in  a  flood  of  the 
same  emotion  when  Croft  very  politely  saluted  his 
cousin  by  name,  which  salutation  was  returned  in  a 
manner  which  indicated  that  the  parties  were  ac 
quainted. 

At  first  Croft  had  been  prompted  to  ignore  all 
knowledge  of  the  cashier,  and  meet  her  as  a  stranger, 
but  his  better  sense  prevented  this,  for  how  could  he 
know  what  she  had  been  saying  about  him  ? 

"  I  was  about  to  introduce  you  to  my  cousin,"  said 
Keswick,  "but  I  see  that  you  already  know  each 
other." 

"  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Mrs.  Null  in 
New  York,"  said  Lawrence,  to  whom  the  word  cousin 
gave  what  might  be  called  a  more  important  surprise 
than  anything  with  which  this  three-sided  interview 
had  yet  furnished  its  participants.  He  gave  a  quick 
glance  at  the  lady,  and  discovered  her  very  steadfastly 
gazing  at  him.  "  I  hope,"  he  said,  "  that  you  and  your 
husband  have  had  a  very  pleasant  trip." 

"Mr.  Null  did  not  come  with  me,"  she  quietly 
replied. 

Lawrence  Croft  was  a  man  to  whom  it  gave  pleasure 
to  deal  with  problematic  situations,  unexpected  de 
velopments,  and  the  like  j  but  this  was  too  much  of  a 
conundrum  for  him.  That  the  man  whose  address  he 
had  employed  this  girl  to  find  out  should  prove  to  be 

128 


"I  was  about  to  introduce  you  to  my  cousin.' 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

her  cousin,  and  that  she  should  start  on  her  bridal  trip 
without  her  husband,  were  points  on  which  his  reason 
had  no  power  to  work.  One  thing,  however,  he 
quickly  determined  upon :  he  would  have  an  inter 
view  with  Madam  Cashier,  and  have  her  explain  these 
mysteries.  She  was,  virtually,  his  agent,  and  had  no 
right  to  conceal  from  him  what  she  had  been  doing, 
and  why  she  had  done  it. 

It  was  necessary,  however,  that  he  should  waste  no 
time  in  thoughts  of  this  kind,  but  should  immediately 
state  to  Mr.  Keswick  the  reason  of  his  visit ;  for  it 
could  not  be  supposed  he  had  called  in  a  merely  social 
way.  "  I  wish  to  speak  to  you,"  he  said,  "  on  a  little 
matter  of  business." 

At  these  words  Mrs.  Null  excused  herself,  and  went 
into  the  house.  Her  mind  was  troubled  as  she  won 
dered  what  the  business  was  which  had  made  this  New 
York  gentleman  so  extraordinarily  desirous  to  find 
her  cousin.  Was  it  anything  that  would  injure 
Junius?  She  looked  back  as  she  entered  the  door, 
but  the  object  of  her  solicitude  was  sitting  with  a  face 
so  calm  and  composed  that  it  showed  very  plainly  he 
did  not  expect  any  communication  which  would  be 
harmful  to  him. 

"It  is  a  satisfaction,"  thought  Mr.  Croft,  "a  very 
great  satisfaction,  that  I  can  enter  upon  the  object  of 
my  visit  knowing  that  my  affairs  and  my  actions  have 
not  been  discussed  by  this  gentleman  and  Mrs.  Null." 


129 


CHAPTER  XII 

OLD  Mrs.  Keswick  would  willingly  have  followed  the 
strange  gentleman  to  the  house  in  order  to  know  the 
object  of  his  visit,  but  as  he  had  come  to  see  Junius  she 
refrained,  for  she  knew  her  nephew  would  not  like  any 
appearance  of  curiosity  on  her  part.  Her  reception 
of  Junius  had  been  very  different  indeed  from  that  she 
had  previously  accorded  him  when  she  declined  to  be 
found  under  the  same  roof  with  him.  Now  he  was 
here  under  very  different  auspices,  and  for  him  the 
very  plumpest  poultry  was  slain,  and  everything  was 
done  to  make  him  comfortable  and  willing  to  stay  and 
become  acquainted  with  his  cousin,  Mrs.  Null.  A 
match  between  these  two  young  people  was  the  present 
object  of  the  old  lady's  existence,  and  she  set  about 
making  it  with  as  much  determination  and  confidence 
as  if  there  had  been  no  such  person  as  Mr.  Null.  Of 
this  individual  she  had  the  most  contemptible  opinion. 
She  had  never  asked  many  questions  about  him,  be 
cause,  in  her  intercourse  with  her  niece,  she  wished, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  ignore  him.  Having  mentally 
pictured  him  in  various  mean  conditions  of  life,  she 
had  finally  settled  it  in  her  mind  that  he  was  an  agent 
for  some  patent  fertilizer— a  man  of  this  kind  being  a 
very  obnoxious  person  to  her.  This  avocation,  how 
ever,  constituted  in  the  old  lady's  mind  no  excusable 

130 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

reason  for  his  protracted  absence ;  and  if  ever  a  wife 
was  deserted,  she  believed  that  her  niece  Annie  was 
such  a  wife. 

"  If  he  should  stay  away  much  longer,"  she  said  to 
herself,  "  we  shall  have  no  more  trouble  in  getting  a 
divorce  than  to  have  his  funeral  sermon  preached. 
And  if  there  is  any  talk  of  his  coming  here,  or  of  her 
going  to  him,  Fll  put  my  foot  down  on  that  sort  of 
thing,  if  I've  a  foot  left  to  do  it  with." 

When  she  had  first  perceived  the  approach  of  Mr. 
Croft,  a  fear  had  seized  her  that  this  might  be  the 
recreant  husband,  but  the  gentlemanly  appearance  of 
the  stranger  soon  dispelled  this  idea  from  her  preju 
diced  mind.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  she  had  no 
business  at  the  house  with  her  nephew's  visitor,  she 
had  positive  business  in  the  garden  with  old  Uncle 
Isham,  and  there  she  repaired.  There  was  some  work 
to  be  done  in  regard  to  a  flower-pit,  in  which  some  of 
her  choicest  plants  were  to  be  domiciled  during  the 
winter,  and  this  she  wished  personally  to  oversee. 
Although  the  autumn  was  well  advanced,  the  day  was 
somewhat  warm ;  and  as  the  pair  whom  Mr.  Croft  had 
seen  on  the  porch  had  been  glad  to  shelter  themselves 
in  the  shade  of  the  honeysuckle  vines,  so  Mrs.  Keswick 
seated  herself  on  a  little  bench  behind  a  large  arbor, 
still  covered  by  heavy  vines,  which  stood  on  the 
boundary  line  between  the  garden  and  the  front  yard, 
and  opened  on  the  latter.  This  bench,  which  was 
always  shady  in  the  morning,  she  had  had  placed  there 
that  she  might  comfortably  direct  the  labors  of  old 
Isham,  the  boy  Plez,  or  whoever,  for  the  time  being, 
happened  to  be  her  gardener. 

Mr.  Croft  did  not  immediately  begin  the  statement 
131 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

of  the*  business  which  had  brought  him  to  see  Junius 
Keswick.  Several  windows  of  the  house  opened  on 
the  porch,  and  he  did  not  wish  what  he  had  to  say  to 
be  heard  by  any  one  except  the  person  he  was  ad 
dressing.  "I  desire  to  talk  to  you  on  some  private 
matters,"  he  said.  "  Could  we  not  walk  a  little  away 
from  the  house?" 

"Certainly,"  said  Junius,  rising.  "We  will  step 
over  to  that  arbor  by  the  garden.  We  shall  be  quite 
comfortable  and  secluded  there.  This  is  the  place," 
said  Junius,  as  they  seated  themselves  in  the  arbor, 
"  where,  when  a  boy,  I  used  to  come  to  smoke.  My 
aunt  did  not  allow  this  diversion,  but  I  managed  to  do 
a  good  deal  of  puffing  before  I  was  found  out." 

" Then  you  used  to  live  here?  "  asked  Croft. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Keswick ;  "  my  parents  died  when  I 
was  quite  a  little  fellow,  and  my  aunt  had  charge  of 
me  until  I  had  grown  up." 

"Was  that  your  aunt  whom  I  met  at  the  gate? 
There  was  something  about  her  bearing  and  general 
appearance  which  greatly  interested  me." 

"She  is  a  most  estimable  lady,"  returned  Junius. 
And  not  wishing  further  to  discuss  his  relative,  he 
added :  "  And  now,  what  is  it,  sir,  that  I  can  have  the 
pleasure  of  doing  for  you?  " 

"  The  matter  regards  Miss  March,"  said  Croft. 

"  I  presumed  so,"  remarked  the  other. 

"I  will  state  it  as  briefly  as  possible,"  continued 
Croft.  "In  consequence  of  your  visit  to  me  at  the 
Springs,  I  set  out,  the  day  before  yesterday,  to  make 
another  attempt  to  call  on  Miss  March,  the  first  one 
having  been  frustrated,  as  you  may  remember,  by  the 
information  we  received  at  the  gate  in  regard  to  Miss 

132 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

March's  indisposition,  which,  as  I  have  heard  nothing 
more  of  it,  I  hope  was  of  no  importance." 

"  Of  none  whatever,"  said  Junius. 

"  When  I  was  within  a  mile  or  so  of  Midbranch," 
continued  Croft,  "  I  met  Mr.  Brandon,  who  requested 
me  not  to  come  to  his  house,  and,  in  fact,  to  cease  my 
visits  altogether." 

"  What ! "  cried  Keswick,  very  much  surprised. 
"  That  is  not  at  all  like  Mr.  Brandon.  What  reason 
could  he  have  for  treating  you  in  such  a  manner  ? " 

"  The  very  best  in  the  world,"  said  Croft.  "  Hav 
ing,  as  the  guardian  of  his  niece,  asked  me  the  object 
of  my  visit  to  Miss  March,  and  having  been  informed 
by  me  that  it  was  my  intention  to  propose  matrimony 
to  the  lady,  he  requested  that  I  would  not  visit  at  his 
house." 

"  On  what  ground  did  he  base  his  objection  to  your 
visit?"  asked  Keswick. 

"  He  made  no  objection  to  me ;  he  simply  stated  that 
he  did  not  desire  me  to  come,  because  he  wished  his 
niece  to  marry  you." 

"  Quite  plainly  spoken,"  remarked  Keswick. 

"Nothing  could  be  more  so,"  replied  Croft.  "I 
could  not  expect  any  one  to  be  franker  with  me  than 
he  was.  He  went  on  to  inform  me  that  a  match  be 
tween  the  lady  and  yourself  was  greatly  desired  by 
the  whole  family  connection,  with  a  single  exception, 
which,  however,  he  did  not  name,  and  while  he  gave 
me  to  understand  that  he  had  no  reason  to  fear,  that, 
so  far  as  the  lady  was  concerned,  my  proposal  would 
interfere  with  your  prospects,  still,  were  it  known  that 
there  was  another  aspirant  in  the  field,  a  very  unde 
sirable  state  of  things  might  ensue.  What  this  state 

133 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

of  affairs  was  lie  did  not  state,  but  I  presume  it  had 
something  to  do  with  the  exceptional  opposition  to 
which  he  referred." 

"  And  what  did  you  say  to  all  that?  "  asked  Junius. 

"  I  said  very  little.  When  a  man  asks  me  not  to 
come  to  his  house,  I  don't  go.  But,  nevertheless,  I 
have  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  propose  to  Miss 
March  as  soon  as  I  can  get  an  opportunity.  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  family  arrangements  or  family 
opposition.  You  have  told  me  that  you  are  not  en 
gaged  to  her,  and  I  am  going  to  try  to  be  engaged  to 
her.  She  is  the  one  to  decide  this  matter.  And  now 
I  have  called  upon  you,  Mr.  Keswick,  to  see  if  there 
is  any  way  in  which  you  can  assist  me  in  obtaining  an 
interview  with  Miss  March." 

"  Don't  you  think,"  said  Junius,  "  that  it  is  rather 
cool  in  you  to  ask  me  to  assist  you  in  this  matter?  " 

"  Not  at  all,"  replied  the  other.  "  If  it  had  not  been 
for  you  I  should  now  be  in  New  York,  with  no  thought 
of  present  proposals  of  marriage.  But  you  came  to 
me,  and  insisted  that  I  should  see  the  lady." 

"That  was  simply  because  she  had  expressed  a 
strong  desire  to  see  you." 

"Very  good,"  said  Lawrence.  "I  tried  to  go  to 
her,  as  you  know,  and  was  prevented.  Now  all  I  ask 
of  you  is  to  help  me  to  do  what  you  so  strongly  urged 
me  to  do.  There  is  nothing  particularly  cool  in  that, 
I  think." 

Keswick  did  not  immediately  reply.  "I  am  not 
sure,"  he  said,  "that  Miss  March  still  wishes  to  see 
you." 

"That  may  be,"  replied  Croft,  speaking  a  little 
warmly.  "  None  of  us  exactly  know  what  she  thinks 

134 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

or  wishes.  But  I  want  to  find  out  what  she  thinks 
about  me  by  distinctly  asking  her.  And  I  should 
suppose  you  would  consider  it  to  ypur  advantage,  as 
well  as  mine,  that  I  should  do  so." 

"  I  have  my  own  opinion  on  that  point,"  said  Kes- 
wick,  "  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  at  present. 
If  I  were  to  assist  you  to  an  interview  with  Miss  March 
it  would  be  on  the  lady's  account,  not  on  yours  or 
mine.  But  apart  from  the  fact  that  I  do  not  know  if 
she  now  desires  an  interview,  I  would  not  do  anything 
that  would  offend  or  annoy  Mr.  Brandon." 

"I  don't  ask  that  of  you,"  said  Croft,  "but  couldn't 
you  use  your  influence  with  him  to  give  me  a  fair 
chance  with  the  lady  ?  That  is  all  I  ask,  and,  whether 
she  accepts  me  or  rejects  me,  I  am  sure  everybody 
ought  to  be  satisfied." 

Keswick  smiled.  "  You  don't  leave  any  margin  for 
sentiment,"  he  said,  "  but  I  suppose  it  is  just  as  well  to 
deal  with  this  matter  in  a  practical  way.  I  do  not 
think,  however,  that  any  influence  I  can  exert  on  Mr. 
Brandon  would  induce  him  to  allow  you  to  address  his 
niece  if  he  is  opposed  to  it,  and  I  am  sure  he  would 
have  a  very  strange  opinion  of  me  if  I  attempted  such 
a  thing.  At  present  I  do  not  see  that  I  can  help  you 
at  all,  but  I  will  think  over  the  matter,  and  we  will 
talk  of  it  again." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Croft,  rising.  "  And  when  shall 
I  call  upon  you  to  hear  your  decision  f  " 

It  was  rather  difficult  for  Junius  Keswick  to  answer 
a  question  like  this  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  He 
arose  and  walked  with  Croft  out  of  the  arbor.  His 
first  impulse,  as  a  Virginia  gentleman,  was  to  invite 
his  visitor  to  stay  at  the  house  until  the  matter  should 

136 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

be  settled,  but  lie  did  not  know  what  extraordinary 
freak  on  the  part  of  his  aunt  might  be  caused  by  such 
an  invitation.  But  before  he  had  decided  what  to  say, 
they  were  met  by  Mrs.  Keswick  coming  from  the  gar 
den.  Junius  thereupon  presented  Mr.  Croft,  who  was 
welcomed  by  the  old  lady  with  extended  hand  and  ex 
ceeding  cordiality. 

"  I  am  very  glad,"  she  said,  "  to  meet  a  friend  of  my 
nephew.  But  where  are  you  going,  sir?  Certainly 
not  towards  your  horse !  You  must  stay  and  dine 
with  us." 

Lawrence  hesitated.  He  had  no  claims  on  the  hos 
pitality  of  these  people,  but  he  wished  very  much  to 
have  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  Mrs.  Null.  "  Thank 
you,"  he  said,  "but  I  am  staying  down  here  at  the 
village,  and  it  is  but  a  short  ride." 

"  Staying  at  Hewlett's ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Keswick. 
"  At  which  hotel,  may  I  ask  ?  " 

Lawrence  laughed.  "  I  am  stopping  with  the  store 
keeper,"  he  said. 

"That  settles  it!"  said  the  old  lady,  giving  her 
umbrella  a  jab  into  the  ground.  "  Tom  Peckett's  ac 
commodations  may  be  good  enough  for  pedlers  and 
travelling  agents,  but  they  are  not  fit  for  gentlemen, 
especially  one  of  my  nephew's  friends.  You  must  stay 
with  us,  sir,  as  long  as  you  are  in  this  neighborhood. 
I  insist  upon  it." 

Junius  was  very  much  astonished  at  his  aunt's  speech 
and  manner.  The  old  lady  was  not  at  all  inhospitable  ; 
so  far  was  it  otherwise  the  case  that,  rather  than  de 
prive  an  objectionable  visitor  of  the  shelter  of  her  roof, 
she  would  go  from  under  it  herself  j  but  he  had  never 
known  her  to  "  gush  "  in  this  manner  upon  a  stranger. 

136 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

He  now  felt  at  liberty,  however,  to  obey  his  own  im 
pulses,  and  urged  Mr.  Croft  to  stay  with  them. 

"  You  are  very  kind  indeed,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and 
I  shall  be  glad  to  defer  for  the  present  my  return  to 
my  <  hotel.7  This  will  give  me  f  e  additional  pleasure 
of  renewing  my  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Null." 

"  What ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Keswick,  "  do  you  know 
her,  too  f  And  to  think  of  your  stopping  at  Peckett's  ! 
Your  home,  sir,  while  you  stay  in  these  parts,  is  here." 

Before  the  three  reached  the  house,  Mrs.  Keswick 
had  inquired  how  long  Mr.  Croft  had  known  her  niece ; 
and  had  discovered,  much  to  her  disappointment,  that 
he  had  never  met  Mr.  Null. 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  at  the  house  of  the  gentle 
man  on  horseback,  little  Plez  ran  into  the  kitchen, 
where  Letty  was  engaged  in  preparing  vegetables  for 
dinner. 

"Who  d'ye  think  is  done  come?"  he  exclaimed. 
"  Miss  Annie's  husband  !  Jes  rid  up  to  de  house." 

"Bat  so?"  cried  Letty,  dropping  into  her  lap  the 
knife  and  the  potato  she  was  peeling.  "  Well,  truly, 
when  things  does  happen  in  dis  worl'  dey  comes  all  in 
a  lump.  None  ob  de  family  been  nigh  de  house  fur 
ebber  so  long ;  an'  den,  'long  comes  Mahs'  Junius  hisse'f, 
an'  Miss  Annie,  dat's  been  away  sence  she  was  a  chile, 
an'  ole  Mr.  Brandon,  wot  Uncle  Isham  say  ain't  been 
h'yar  fur  years  an'  years ;  an'  now  Miss  Annie's  hus 
band  comes  kitin'  up  !  An'  dar's  ole  Aun'  Patsy  wot 
says  dat  if  dat  gemman  ebber  come  h'yar  she  want  to 
know  it  fus'  thing.  She  was  dreffle  p'inted  about  dat. 
An'  now,  look  h'yar,  you  Plez,  jes  you  cut  round  to 
your  Aun'  Patsy's,  an'  tell  her  Miss  Annie's  husband's 
done  come." 

137 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Whar  ole  miss  !  "  inquired  Plez.     "  She  'sleep  ?  " 

"  No,  she  mighty  wide  awake,"  said  Letty.  "  But 
you  take  dem  knives  an'  dat  board  an'  brick,  an'  run 
down  to  de  branch  to  clean  'em.  An'  when  you  gits 
dar,  you  jes  slip  along  'hind  de  bushes  till  you's  got 
ter  de  cohn-fiel',  an'  den  you  cut  'cross  dar  to  Aun' 
Patsy's.  An'  don'  you  stop  no  time  dar,  fur  if  ole  miss 
finds  you's  done  gone,  she'll  chop  you  up  wid  dem 
knives." 

Plez  was  quite  ready  for  a  reckless  dash  of  this  kind, 
and  in  less  than  twenty  minutes  old  Patsy  was  in 
formed  that  Mr.  Null  had  arrived.  The  old  woman 
was  much  affected  by  the  information.  She  was  un 
easy  and  restless,  and  talked  a  good  deal  to  herself, 
occasionally  throwing  out  a  moan  or  a  lament  in  the 
direction  of  her  "  son  Tom's  yaller  boy  Bob's  chile." 
The  crazy-quilt,  which  was  not  yet  finished,  though 
several  pieces  had  been  added  since  we  last  saw  it, 
was  laid  aside  ;  and  by  the  help  of  the  above-mentioned 
great-granddaughter  the  old  hair  trunk  was  hauled 
out  and  opened.  Over  this  hoard  of  treasures  Aunt 
Patsy  spent  nearly  two  hours,  slowly  taking  up  the 
various  articles  it  contained,  turning  them  over, 
mumbling  over  them,  and  mentally  referring  many 
of  them  to  periods  which  had  become  historic.  At 
length  she  pulled  out  from  one  of  the  corners  of  the 
trunk  a  pair  of  very  little  blue  morocco  shoes  tied 
together  by  their  strings.  These  she  took  into  her  lap, 
and,  shortly  afterwards,  had  the  trunk  locked  and 
pushed  back  into  its  place.  The  shoes,  having  been 
thoroughly  examined  through  her  great  iron-bound 
spectacles,  were  thrust  under  the  mattress  of  her  bed. 

That  evening  Uncle  Isham  stepped  in  to  see  the 
138 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

old  woman,  who  was  counteracting  the  effects  of  the 
cool  evening  air  by  sitting  as  close  as  possible  to 
the  remains  of  the  fire  which  had  cooked  the  supper. 
She  was  very  glad  to  see  him.  She  wanted  somebody 
to  whom  she  could  unburden  her  mind. 

"  Wot  you  got  to  say  'bout  Miss  Annie's  husband," 
she  asked,  "wot  done  come  to-day?" 

"  Was  dat  him  f  "  exclaimed  the  old  man.  "  Nobody 
tole  me  dat." 

This  was  true,  for  the  good-natured  Letty,  having 
discovered  the  mistake  that  had  been  made,  had  con 
cluded  to  say  nothing  about  it,  and  to  keep  away  from 
Aunt  Patsy's  for  a  few  days,  until  the  matter  should 
be  forgotten. 

"  Well,  I  'spec'  Miss  Annie's  mighty  glad  to  git  him 
back  ag'in,"  continued  the  old  man,  after  a  moment's 
reflection.  "He's  right  much  of  a  nice-lookin'  gem- 
man.  I  seed  him  dis  ebenin'  a-ridin'  wid  Mahs' 
Junius." 

"  P'r'aps  Miss  Annie  is  glad,"  said  the  old  woman, 
"  cos  she  don'  know.  But  I  ain't." 

"Wot's  de  reason  fur  dat?"  inquired  Isham. 

"  It's  a  pow'ful  dreffle  thing  dat  Miss  Annie's  hus 
band's  done  come  down  h'yar.  He  don'  know  ole  miss." 

"  Wot's  de  matter  wid  ole  miss? "  asked  Isham,  in  a 
quick  tone. 

"She  done  talk  to  me  'bout  him,"  said  the  old 
woman.  "  She  done  tole  me  jes  wot  she  think  ob  him. 
She  hate  him  from  he  heel  up.  I  dunno  wot  she'll  do 
to  him  now  she  got  him.  Mighty  great  pity  far  pore 
Miss  Annie  dat  he  efer  come  h'yar." 

"Ole  miss  ain't  gwine  to  do  nuffin  to  him,"  said 
Isham,  in  a  gruff  and  troubled  tone. 

139 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"Don'  you  b'lieve  dat,"  said  Aunt  Patsy.  "When 
ole  miss  don7  like  a  pusson,  dat  pusson  had  better  look 
out.  But  I  ain't  gwine  to  be  sottin'  h'yar  an'  see 
mis'ry  comin'  to  Miss  Annie." 

"  Wot  you  gwine  to  do ! "  asked  Isham. 

"I'se  gwine  to  speak  my  min'  to  ole  miss.  I'se 
gwine  to  tell  her  not  to  do  no  kunjerin'  to  Miss 
Annie's  husban'.  She  gwine  to  hurt  dat  little  gal 
more'n  she  hurt  anybody  else." 

Old  Isham  sat  looking  into  the  fire  with  a  very 
worried  and  anxious  expression  on  his  face.  He  was 
intensely  loyal  to  his  mistress,  aware  as  he  was  of  her 
shortcomings,  or  rather  her  long-goings.  Although 
he  felt  a  good  deal  of  fear  that  there  might  be  some 
truth  in  Aunt  Patsy's  words,  he  was  very  sure  that  if 
she  took  it  upon  herself  to  give  warning  or  reproof  to 
old  Mrs.  Keswick,  a  storm  would  ensue ;  and  where 
the  lightning  would  strike  he  did  not  know.  "You 
better  look  out,  Aun'  Patsy,"  he  said.  "You  an'  ole 
miss  been  mighty  good  fr'en's  fur  a  pow'ful  long  time, 
an'  now  don'  you  go  gittin'  yourse'f  in  no  fraction  wid 
her,  jes  as  you  'bout  to  die." 

"  Ain't  gwine  to  die,"  said  the  old  woman,  "  till  I 
done  tole  her  wot's  on  my  min'." 

"  Ann'  Patsy,"  said  Uncle  Isham,  after  gazing  silently 
in  the  fire  for  a  minute  or  two,  "  dar  was  a  brudder 
wot  come  up  from  'Melia  County  to  de  las'  big  preach- 
in',  an'  he  tole  in  his  sarment  a  par'ble  wot  I  b'lieve 
will  'ply  fus'-rate  to  dis  'casion.  I'se  gwine  to  tell 
you  dat." 

"  Go  'long  wid  it,"  said  Aunt  Patsy. 

"Well,  den,"  said  Isham,  "dar  was  once  a  cullud 
angel  wot  went  up  to  de  gate  ob  heaben  to  git  in.  He 

140 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

didn't  know  nuffin  'bout  de  ways  ob  de  place,  bein*  a 
strahnger,  an7  when  he  see  all  de  white  angels  a- 
crowdin'  in  at  de  gate  where  Sent  Peter  was  a-settin', 
he  sorter  looked  round  to  see  if  dar  warn't  no  gate 
wot  he  might  go  in  at.  Den  ole  Sent  Peter  he  sings 
out :  l  Look  h'yar,  uncle,  whar  you  gwine  f  Dar  ain't 
no  cullud  gal'ry  in  dis  'stablishment.  You's  got  to 
come  in  dis  same  gate  wid  de  oder  folks.7  So  de 
cullud  angel  he  come  up  to  de  gate,  but  he  kin'er  hung 
back  till  de  oders  had  got  in.  Jes  den'  long  comes 
a  white  angel  on  hossback,  wot  was  in  a  dreffle  hurry 
to  git  in  to  de  gate.  De  cullud  angel  he  mighty  p'lite, 
an'  he  went  up  an'  tuk  de  hoss,  an'  when  de  white 
angel  had  got  down  an'  gone  in,  he  went  roun'  lookin' 
fur  a  tree  to  hitch  him  to.  But  when  he  went  back 
ag'in  to  de  gate,  Sent  Peter  had  jes  shet  it,  and  was 
lockin'  it  up  wid  a  big  padlock.  He  jes  looks  ober 
de  gate  at  de  cullud  angel  an'  he  says :  l  No  'mittance 
ahfter  six  o'clock.'  An'  den  he  go  in  to  his  supper." 

"An'  wot  dat  cullud  angel  do  den?"  asked  Eliza, 
who  had  been  listening  breathlessly  to  this  narrative. 

"  Dunno,"  said  Isham,  "  but  I  reckon  de  debbil  come 
'long  in  de  night  an'  tuk  him  off.  Dar's  a  lesson  in 
dis  h'yar  par'ble  wot  'u'd  do  you  good  to  clap  to  your 
heart,  Aun'  Patsy.  Don'  you  be  gwine  roun'  tryin'  to 
help  oder  people  jes  as  you  is  all  ready  to  go  inter 
de  gate  ob  heaben.  Ef  you  try  any  ob  dat  dar  foolish 
ness,  de  fus'  thing  you  know  you'll  find  dat  gate  shet." 

"  Is  dat  your  'Melia  County  par'ble? "  asked  the  old 
woman. 

"  Dat's  it,"  answered  Isham. 

"Beckon  dat  country's  better  fur  'bacca  dan  fur 
par'bles,"  grunted  Aunt  Patsy. 

141 


CHAPTER 


LAWRENCE  CROFT  had  no  idea  of  leaving  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Hewlett's  until  Keswick  had  made  up  his 
mind  what  he  was  going  to  do,  and  until  he  had  had 
a  private  talk  with  Mrs.  Null  j  and,  as  it  was  quite 
evident  that  the  family  would  be  offended  if  a  visitor 
to  them  should  lodge  at  Peckett's  store,  he  accepted 
the  invitation  to  spend  the  night  at  the  Keswick 
house  ;  and  in  the  afternoon  Junius  rode  with  him 
to  Hewlett's,  where  he  got  his  valise  and  paid  his 
account. 

But  no  opportunity  occurred  that  day  for  a  tete-a- 
tete  with  Mrs.  Null.  Keswick  was  with  him  nearly  all 
the  afternoon  ;  and  in  the  evening  the  family  sat  to 
gether  in  the  parlor,  where  the  conversation  was  a 
general  one,  occasionally  very  much  brightened  by 
some  of  the  caustic  remarks  of  the  old  lady  in  regard 
to  particular  men  and  women,  as  well  as  society  at 
large.  Of  course  he  had  many  opportunities  of  judg 
ing,  to  the  best  of  his  capacity,  of  certain  phases  of 
character  appertaining  to  Mr.  Candy's  cashier  ;  and, 
among  other  things,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
probably  she  was  a  young  woman  who  would  get  up 
early  in  the  morning,  and  he,  therefore,  determined  to 
do  that  thing  himself,  and  see  if  ;he  could  not  have 

142 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

a  talk  with  her  before  the  rest  of  the  family  were 
astir. 

Early  rising  was  not  one  of  Croft's  accustomed  habits, 
but  the  next  morning  he  arose  a  good  hour  before 
breakfast-time.  He  found  the  lower  part  of  the  house 
quite  deserted,  and  when  he  went  out  on  the  porch  he 
was  glad  to  button  up  his  coat,  for  the  morning  air 
was  very  cool.  While  walking  up  and  down  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets,  and  looking  in  at  the  front  door 
every  time  he  passed  it,  in  hopes  that  he  might  see  Mrs. 
Null  coming  down  the  stairs,  he  was  greeted  with  a 
cheery  "  Good  morning  "  by  a  voice  in  the  front  yard. 
Turning  hastily,  he  beheld  Mrs.  Keswick,  wearing  her 
purple  sunbonnet,  but  without  her  umbrella. 

"Glad  you  like  to  be  up  betimes,  sir,"  said  she. 
"  That's  my  way,  and  I  find  it  pays.  Nobody  works 
as  well,  and  I  don't  believe  the  plants  and  stock  grow 
as  well,  while  we  are  asleep." 

Lawrence  replied  that  in  the  city  he  did  not  get  up 
so  early,  but  that  the  morning  air  in  the  country  was 
very  fine. 

"  And  pretty  sharp,  too,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick.  "  Come 
down  here  in  the  sunshine,  and  you  will  find  it  pleas- 
anter.  Step  back  a  little  this  way,  sir,"  she  said,  when 
Lawrence  had  joined  her,  "  and  give  me  your  opinion 
of  that  locust-tree  by  the  corner  of  the  porch.  I  am 
thinking  of  having  it  cut  down.  Locusts  are  very  apt 
to  get  diseased  inside,  and  break  off,  and  I  am  afraid 
that  one  will  blow  over  some  day  and  fall  on  the 
house." 

Lawrence  said  he  thought  it  looked  like  a  very  good 
tree,  and  it  would  be  a  pity  to  lose  the  shade  it  made. 

"  I  might  plant  one  of  another"  sort,"  said  the  old 
143 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

lady,  "  but  trees  grow  too  slow  for  old  people,  though 
plenty  fast  enough  for  young  ones.  I  reckon  I'll  let 
it  stand  awhile  yet.  You  were  talking  last  night  of 
Midbranch,  sir.  There  used  to  be  fine  trees  there, 
though  it's  many  years  since  I've  seen  them.  Have 
you  been  long  acquainted  with  the  family  there  I " 

Lawrence  replied  that  he  had  known  Miss  March  a 
good  while,  having  met  her  in  New  York. 

"  She  is  said  to  be  a  right  smart  young  lady,"  said 
Mrs.  Keswick,  "well  educated,  and  has  travelled  in 
Europe.  I  am  told  that  she  is  not  only  a  regular  town 
lady,  but  that  she  makes  a  first-rate  housekeeper  when 
she  is  down  here  in  the  country." 

Lawrence  replied  that  he  had  no  doubt  that  all  this 
was  very  true. 

"I  have  never  seen  her,"  continued  the  old  lady, 
"  for  there  has  not  been  much  communication  between 
the  two  families  of  late  years,  although  they  used  to 
be  intimate  enough.  But  my  nephew  and  niece  have 
been  away  a  great  deal,  and  old  people  can't  be  ex 
pected  to  do  much  in  the  way  of  visiting.  But  I  have 
a  notion,"  she  said,  after  gazing  a  few  moments  in  a 
reflective  way  at  the  corner  of  the  house,  "that  it 
would  be  well  now  to  be  a  little  more  sociable  again. 
My  niece  has  no  company  here  of  her  own  sex,  except 
me,  and  I  think  it  would  do  her  good  to  know  a  young 
lady  like  Miss  March.  Mr.  Brandon  has  asked  me  to 
let  Annie  come  there,  but  I  think  it  would  be  a  great 
deal  better  for  his  niece  to  visit  us.  Mrs.  Null  is  the 
latest  comer." 

Lawrence,  speaking  much  more  earnestly  than  when 
discussing  the  locust-tree,  replied  that  he  thought  this 
would  be  quite  proper. 

144 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  I  think  I  may  invite  her  to  come  here  next  week," 
said  Mrs.  Keswick,  still  meditatively  and  without  ap 
parent  regard  to  the  presence  of  Croft,  "  probably  on 
Friday,  and  ask  her  to  spend  a  week.  And,  by  the 
way,  sir,"  she  said,  turning  to  her  companion,  "if 
you  are  still  in  this  part  of  the  country  I  would  be  glad 
to  have  you  ride  over  and  stay  a  day  or  two  while 
Miss  March  is  here.  I  will  have  a  little  party  of 
young  folks  in  honor  of  Mrs.  Null.  I  have  done  noth 
ing  of  the  kind  for  her,  so  far." 

Lawrence  said  he  had  no  doubt  that  he  would  stay 
at  the  Green  Sulphur  a  week  or  two  longer,  and  that 
he  would  be  most  happy  to  accept  Mrs.  Keswick's  kind 
invitation. 

They  then  moved  towards  the  house,  but,  suddenly 
stopping,  as  if  she  had  just  thought  of  something,  Mrs. 
Keswick  remarked :  "  I  shall  be  obliged  to  you,  sir,  if 
you  will  not  say  anything  about  this  little  plan  of  mine 
just  no  We  I  have  not  spoken  of  it  to  any  one,  having 
scarcely  made  up  my  mind  to  it,  and  I  suppose  I  should 
not  have  mentioned  it  to  you  if  we  had  not  been  talk 
ing  about  Midbranch.  There  is  nothing  I  hate  so 
much  as  to  have  people  hear  I  am  going  to  give  them 
an  invitation,  or  that  I  am  going  to  do  anything,  in 
fact,  before  I  have  fully  made  up  my  mind  about  it." 

Lawrence  assured  her  that  he  would  say  nothing  on 
the  subject,  and  she  promised  to  send  him  a  note  to  the 
Green  Sulphur,  in  case  she  finally  determined  on  hav 
ing  the  little  company  at  her  house. 

"  Now,"  triumphantly  thought  Croft,  "  it  matters  not 
what  Keswick  decides  to  do,  for  I  don't  need  his 
assistance.  An  elderly  angel  in  a  purple  sunbonnet 
has  come  to  my  aid.  She  is  about  to  do  ever  so  much 

145 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

more  for  me  than  I  could  expect  of  him,  and  I  prefer 
her  assistance  to  that  of  my  rival.  Altogether  it  is 
the  most  unexpected  piece  of  good  luck." 

After  breakfast  there  came  to  Lawrence  the  oppor 
tunity  of  a  private  conference  with  Mrs.  Null.  He 
was  standing  alone  on  the  porch  when  she  came  out  of 
the  door  with  her  hat  on  and  a  basket  in  her  hand, 
and  said  she  was  going  to  see  a  very  old  colored  woman 
who  lived  in  the  neighborhood,  who  was  considered  a 
very  interesting  personage  ;  and  perhaps  he  would  like 
to  go  there  with  her.  Nothing  could  suit  Croft  better 
than  this,  and  off  they  started. 

As  soon  as  they  were  outside  the  yard  gate  the  lady 
remarked :  "  I  have  been  trying  hard  to  give  you  a 
chance  to  talk  to  me  when  the  others  were  not  by.  I 
knew  you  must  be  perfectly  wild  to  ask  me  what  all 
this  meant— why  I  never  told  you  that  Mr.  Keswick 
was  my  cousin,  and  the  rest  of  it." 

"  I  can't  say,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  I  am  absolutely 
untamed  and  ferocious  in  regard  to  the  matter,  but  I 
do  really  wish  very  much  that  you  would  give  me 
some  explanation  of  your  very  odd  doings.  In  fact, 
that  is  the  only  thing  that  now  keeps  me  here." 

"  I  thought  so,"  said  Mrs.  Null.  "  As  I  supposed 
you  had  got  through  with  your  business  with  Junius, 
I  did  not  wish  to  detain  you  here  any  longer  than  was 
necessary." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Lawrence. 

"You  are  welcome,"  she  said.  "And  when  I  saw 
you  standing  on  the  porch  by  yourself,  the  idea  of  being 
generous  to  old  Aunt  Patsy  came  into  my  mind.  And 
here  we  are.  Now,  what  do  you  want  to  know  first?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Croft,  "  I  would  like  very  much  to 
146 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

know  how  a  young  lady  like  you  came  to  be  Mr. 
Candy's  cashier." 

"  I  supposed  you  would  want  to  know  that,"  she  said. 
"It's  a  dreadfully  long  story,  and  as  it  is  a  strictly 
family  matter  I  had  almost  made  up  my  mind  last 
night  that  I  ought  not  to  tell  it  to  you  at  all ;  but  as  I 
don't  know  how  much  you  are  mixed  up  with  the 
family,  I  afterwards  thought  it  best,  for  my  own  sake, 
to  explain  the  matter  to  you.  So  I  will  give  you  the 
principal  points.  My  mother  was  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Kes- 
wick,  and  Junius's  mother  was  another  sister.  Both 
his  parents  died  when  he  was  a  boy,  and  Aunt  Keswick 
brought  him  up.  My  mother  died  here  when  I  was 
quite  small,  and  I  stayed  until  I  was  eight  years  old. 
Aunt  Keswick  and  my  father  were  not  very  good 
friends,  and  when  she  came  to  look  upon  me  as  en 
tirely  her  own  child,  and  wished  to  deprive  him  of  all 
rights  and  privileges  as  a  parent,  he  resented  it  very 
much,  and  at  last  took  me,  away.  I  don't  remember 
exactly  how  this  was  done,  but  I  know  there  was  a 
tremendous  quarrel,  and  my  father  and  aunt  never 
met  again. 

"  He  took  me  to  New  York  j  and  there  we  lived 
very  happily  until  about  two  years  ago,  when  my 
father  died.  He  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  but  at 
that  time  held  a  salaried  position  in  a  railroad  com 
pany,  and  when  he  died,  of  course  our  income  ceased. 
The  money  that  was  left  did  not  last  very  long,  and 
then  I  had  to  decide  what  I  was  to  do.  It  would  have 
been  natural  for  me  to  go  to  my  only  relatives,  Aunt 
Keswick  and  Junius.  But  my  father  had  been  so 
opposed  to  my  aunt  having  anything  to  do  with  me 
that  I  could  not  bear  to  go  to  her.  He  had  really 

147 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

been  so  much  afraid  that  she  would  try  to  win  me 
away  from  him,  or  in  some  way  gain  possession  of  me, 
that  he  would  not  even  let  her  know  our  address,  and 
never  answered  the  few  letters  from  her  which  reached 
him,  and  which,  he  told  me,  were  nothing  but  demands 
that  her  sister's  child  should  be  given  back  to  her. 
Junius  had  written  to  me,  how  many  times  I  do  not 
know,  but  two  letters  had  come  to  me  that  were  very 
good  and  affectionate,  quite  different  from  my  aunt's  ; 
but  even  these  my  father  would  not  let  me  answer ;  it 
would  be  all  the  same  thing,  he  said,  as  if  I  opened 
communication  with  my  Aunt  Keswick. 

"  Therefore,  out  of  respect  to  my  father,  and  also  in 
accordance  with  my  own  wishes,  I  gave  up  all  idea  of 
coming  down  here,  and  went  to  work  to  support  my 
self.  I  tried  several  things,  and  at  last,  through  a 
friend  of  my  father,  who  was  a  regular  customer  of 
Mr.  Candy,  I  got  the  position  of  cashier  in  the  Informa 
tion  Shop.  It  was  an  awfully  queer  place,  but  the 
work  was  very  easy,  and  I  soon  got  used  to  it.  Then 
you  came  making  inquiries  for  an  address.  At  first  I 
did  not  know  that  the  person  you  wanted  was  Junius 
Keswick,  and  my  cousin,  but  after  I  began  to  look  into 
the  matter  I  found  that  it  must  be  he  who  you  were 
after.  Then  I  became  very  much  troubled,  for  I  liked 
Junius,  who  was  the  only  one  of  my  blood  whom  I  had 
any  reason  to  care  for;  and  when  one  sees  a  person 
setting  a  detective— for  it  is  all  the  same  thing— upon 
the  track  of  another  person,  one  is  very  apt  to  think 
that  some  harm  is  intended  to  the  person  that  is  being 
looked  up.  I  did  not  know  what  business  Junius  was 
in,  nor  what  his  condition  was,  but  even  if  he  had  been 
doing  wrong,  I  did  not  wish  you  to  find  him  until  I 

148 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

had  first  seen  Mm,  and  then,  if  I  found  you  could  do 
him  any  harm,  I  would  warn  him  to  keep  out  of  your 
way." 

"Do  you  think  that  was  fair  treatment  of  me?" 
asked  Croft. 

"  You  were  nothing  to  me,  and  Junius  was  a  great 
deal,"  she  answered.  "And  yet  I  think  I  was  fair 
enough.  The  only  money  you  paid  was  what  Mr. 
Candy  charged ;  and  when  I  spoke  of  receiving  money 
for  my  services  when  the  affair  was  finished  I  only 
did  it  that  it  might  all  be  more  businesslike,  and  that 
you  should  not  drop  me  and  set  somebody  else  looking 
after  Junius.  That  was  the  great  thing  I  was  afraid 
of,  so  I  did  all  I  could  to  make  you  satisfied  with  me." 

"  I  don't  see  how  your  conscience  could  allow  you 
to  do  all  this,"  said  Croft. 

"  My  conscience  was  very  much  pleased  with  me," 
was  the  answer.  "  What  I  did  was  a  stratagem,  and 
PC*.  "°:ctly  fair,  too.  If  I  had  found  that  it  was  right  for 
you  to  see  Junius,  I  would  have  done  every  thing  I  could 
to  help  you  communicate  with  him.  But  when  I  did 
at  last  see  him,  down  you  swooped  upon  us  before  I 
had  an  opportunity  of  saying  a  word  about  you." 

"Your  marriage  was  a  very  fortunate  thing  for 
you,"  said  Mr.  Croft,  "  for  if  it  had  not  been  for  that  I 
should  never  have  allowed  you  to  go  about  the  country 
looking  up  a  gentleman  in  my  behalf.  But  how  did 
you  get  over  your  repugnance  to  your  aunt?  " 

"  I  didn't  get  over  it,"  she  said ;  "  I  conquered  it,  for 
I  found  that  this  was  the  most  likely  place  to  meet 
Junius.  And  Aunt  Keswick  has  certainly  treated  me 
in  the  kindest  manner,  although  she  is  very  angry 
about  Mr.  Null.  But  when  I  first  came,  and  she  did 

149 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

not  know  who  I  was,  she  behaved  in  the  most  extraor 
dinary  manner." 

"  What  did  she  do! "  asked  Croft. 

"  Never  you  mind,"  she  answered,  with  a  little  laugh. 
"  You  can't  expect  to  know  all  the  family  affairs." 

They  had  now  arrived  at  Aunt  Patsy's  cabin,  and 
Mrs.  Null  entered,  followed  at  a  little  distance  by 
Croft.  The  old  woman  had  seen  them  as  they  were 
walking  along  the  road,  and  her  little  black  eyes 
sparkled  with  peculiar  animation  behind  her  great 
spectacles.  Her  granddaughter  happened  not  to  be 
at  home,  but  Aunt  Patsy  got  up,  and  with  her  apron 
rubbed  off  the  bottoms  of  two  chairs,  which  she  placed 
in  convenient  positions  for  her  expected  visitors. 
When  they  came  in  they  found  her  in  a  very  per 
turbed  condition.  She  answered  Mrs.  Null's  questions 
with  a  very  few  words  and  a  great  many  grunts,  and 
kept  her  eyes  fixed  nearly  all  the  time  upon  Mr.  Croft, 
endeavoring  to  find  out,  perhaps,  if  he  had  yet  been 
subjected  to  any  kind  of  conjuring. 

When  all  the  questions  which  young  people  gener 
ally  put  to  old  servants  had  been  asked  by  Mrs.  Null, 
and  Croft  had  made  as  many  remarks  as  might  have 
been  expected  of  him  in  regard  to  the  age  and  recol 
lections  of  this  interesting  old  negress,  Aunt  Patsy 
began  to  be  much  more  disturbed,  fearing  that  the  in 
terview  was  about  to  come  to  an  end.  She  actually  got 
up  and  went  to  the  back  door  to  look  for  Eliza. 

"Do  you  want  her?"  anxiously  inquired  Mrs.  Null, 
going  to  the  old  woman's  side. 

"Yaas,  I  wants  her,"  said  Aunt  Patsy.  "I  'spec' 
she  at  Aggy's  house,— dat  cabin  ober  dar,— but  I  can't 
holler  loud  >nuf  to  make  her  h'yere  me." 

150 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  I'll  run  over  there  and  tell  her  you  want  her,"  said 
Mrs.  Null,  stepping  out  of  the  door. 

"Dat's  a  good  chile,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  with  more 
warmth  than  she  had  yet  exhibited.  *'  Dat's  your  own 
mudder's  good  chile  ! "  And  then  she  turned  quickly 
into  the  room. 

Croft  had  risen  as  if  he  were  about  to  follow  Mrs. 
Null,  or,  at  least,  to  see  where  she  had  gone.  But 
Aunt  Patsy  stopped  him.  "  Jes  you  stay  h'yar  one 
little  minute,"  she  said  hurriedly.  "  I  got  one  word 
to  say  to  you,  sah."  And  she  stood  up  before  him  as 
erect  as  she  could,  fixing  her  great  spectacles  directly 
upon  him.  "  You  look  out,  sah,  fur  ole  miss,"  she  said, 
in  a  voice  naturally  shrill,  but  now  heavily  handi 
capped  by  age  and  emotion ;  "  ole  Miss  Keswick,  I 
means.  She  boun'  to  do  you  harm,  sah.  She  tole  me 
so  wid  her  own  mouf." 

"  Mrs.  Keswick  ! "  exclaimed  Croft.  "  Why,  you 
must  be  mistaken,  good  aunty.  She  can  have  no  ill 
feelings  towards  me." 

"  Don'  you  b'lieve  dat ! "  said  the  old  woman. 
"  Don'  you  b'lieve  one  word  ob  dat !  She  hate  you, 
sah,  she  hate  you !  She  not  gwine  to  tell  you  dat. 
She  make  you  think  she  like  you  fus'-rate,  an7  den  de 
nex'  thing  you  knows,  she  kunjer  you,  an7  shribble  up 
de  siners  ob  your  legs,  an'  gib  you  mis'ry  in  your  back, 
wot  you  nebber  git  rid  ob  no  mo'.  Can't  tell  you 
nuffin  else  now,  for  h'yar  comes  Miss  Annie,"  she 
added  hurriedly,  and,  stepping  to  the  bedside,  she 
drew  from  under  the  mattress  a  pair  of  little  blue 
shoes,  tied  together  by  their  strings.  "  Jes  you  take 
dese  h'yar  shoes,"  she  said,  "  an'  ef  ebber  you  think  ole 
miss  gwine  to  kunjer  you,  jes  you  hoi'  up  dem  shoes 

151 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

right  afore  her  face.  Dar,  now,  stuff  'em  in  your 
pocket.  Don7  you  tell  Miss  Annie  wot  I  done  say  to 
you.  'Member  dat,  sah.  It  'u'd  kill  her,  shuh." 

At  this  moment  Mrs.  Null  entered,  just  as  the  shoes 
had  been  slipped  into  the  side-pocket  of  Mr.  Croft's 
coat  by  the  old  woman.  And  as  she  did  so  she  whis 
pered,  in  a  tone  that  could  not  but  have  its  effect  upon 
him,  "  Now,  nebber  tell  her,  honey." 

"  Here  is  Eliza,"  said  Mrs.  Null,  as  she  came  in,  fol 
lowed  by  the  great-granddaughter.  "And  I  think," 
she  said  to  Mr.  Croft,  "  it  is  time  for  us  to  go.  Good- 
by,  Aunt  Patsy.  You  can  send  back  the  basket  by 
Eliza." 

When  the  two  left  the  cabin,  Croft  walked  thought 
fully  for  a  few  moments,  wondering  what  in  the  world 
the  old  woman  could  have  meant  by  her  strange  words 
and  gift  to  him.  Concluding,  however,  that  they  could 
have  been  nothing  but  the  drivellings  of  weak-minded 
old  age,  he  dismissed  them  from  his  min.d  and  turned 
his  attention  to  his  companion.  "We  were  speak 
ing,"  he  said,  "of  Mr.  Null.  Do  you  expect  him 
shortly?" 

"  Well,  no,"  said  the  lady.     "  I  can't  say  that  I  do." 

"  That  is  odd,"  said  Lawrence.  "  I  thought  this  was 
your  wedding-journey." 

"  So  it  is,  in  a  measure,"  said  she,  "  but  there  is  no 
necessity  of  his  coming  here.  Didn't  I  tell  you  that 
my  aunt  was  opposed  to  the  marriage  ?  " 

"But  she  might  as  well  make  up  her  mind  to  it 
now,"  he  said. 

"  She  is  not  in  the  habit  of  making  up  her  mind  to 
things  she  doesn't  like.  Do  you  know,"  she  added,  look 
ing  around  with  a  half-smile,  as  if  she  took  pleasure  in 

152 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

astonishing  him,  "  that  Aunt  Keswick  is  going  to  try 
to  have  us  divorced  f  " 

"  What ! "  exclaimed  Croft.  "  Divorced !  Is  there 
any  ground  for  it?  " 

"  She  has  other  matrimonial  plans  for  me,  that's  all.'7 

"  What  an  extraordinary  individual  she  must  be  ! " 
he  exclaimed.  "  But  she  can  never  carry  out  such  a 
ridiculous  scheme  as  that." 

"I  don't  know,"  she  said.  "She  has  already  con 
sulted  Mr.  Brandon  on  the  subject." 

"  What  nonsense  ! "  cried  Croft.  "  If  you  and  Mr. 
Null  are  satisfied,  nobody  else  has  anything  to  do 
with  it" 

"  Mr.  Null  and  I  are  of  one  mind,"  said  she,  "  and 
agree  perfectly.  But  don't  you  think  it  is  a  terrible 
thing  to  know  you  must  always  face  an  irritated  aunt  f  " 

"  Oh,"  said  Croft,  looking  around  at  her  very  coldly 
and  sternly,  "  I  begin  to  see.  I  suppose  a  separation 
would  improve  your  prospects  in  life.  But  it  can't  be 
done  if  your  husband  is  opposed  to  it." 

"  Mr.  Croft,"  said  the  lady,  her  face  flushing  a  good 
deal,  "  you  have  no  right  to  speak  to  me  in  that  way, 
and  attribute  such  motives  to  me.  No  matter  whom 
I  had  married,  I  would  never  give  him  up  for  the  sake 
of  money,  or  a  farm,  or  anything  you  think  my  aunt 
could  give  me." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Croft,  "  if  I  made  a  mis 
take,  but  I  don't  see  what  else  I  could  infer  from  your 
remarks." 

"My  remarks,"  said  she,  "were— well,  they  have  a 
different  meaning  from  what  you  supposed."  She 
walked  on  in  silence  for  a  few  moments,  and  then, 
looking  up  to  her  companion,  she  said :  "  I  have  a 

153 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

great  mind  to  tell  you  something,  if  you  will  promise, 
at  least  for  the  present,  not  to  breathe  it  to  a  living 
soul." 

Instantly  the  lookout  on  the  bow  of  Lawrence  Croft's 
life  action  called  out :  "  Breakers  ahead  ! "  and  almost 
instantly  its  engine  was  stopped,  and  every  faculty  of 
its  commander  was  on  the  alert.  "  I  do  not  know,"  he 
said,  "  that  I  am  entitled  to  your  confidence.  Would 
it  be  of  any  advantage  to  you  to  tell  me  what  you 
propose  f  " 

"  It  would  be  of  advantage,  and  you  are  entitled," 
she  added  quickly.  "It  is  about  Mr.  Null,  and  you 
ought  to  know  it,  for  you  instigated  my  wedded  life." 

"I  instigated!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Croft.  And  then 
he  stopped  short,  both  in  his  speech  and  walk. 

"Yes,"  said  the  lady,  stopping  also,  and  turning  to 
face  him,  "you  did,  and  you  ought  to  remember  it. 
You  said  if  I  had  a  husband  to  travel  about  with  me 
you  would  like  very  much  to  employ  me  in  the  search 
for  Mr.  Keswick,  and  it  was  solely  on  that  account 
that  I  went  and  got  married." 

Observing  the  look  of  blank  and  utter  amazement 
on  his  face,  she  smiled,  and  said  :  "  Please  don't  look  so 
horribly  astonished.  Mr.  Null  is  void." 

As  she  made  this  remark  the  lady  looked  up  at  her 
companion  with  a  smile  and  an  expression  of  curiosity 
as  to  how  he  would  take  the  announcement.  Law 
rence  gazed  blankly  at  her  for  a  moment,  and  then 
he  broke  into  a  laugh.  "  You  don't  mean  to  say,"  he 
exclaimed,  "that  Mr.  Null  is  an  imaginary  being?" 

"Entirely  so,"  she  replied.  "My  dear  Freddy  is 
nothing  but  a  fanciful  idea,  with  no  attribute  whatever 
except  the  name." 

154 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"You  are  a  most  extraordinary  young  person,"  said 
Lawrence,— "almost  as  extraordinary  as  your  aunt. 
What  in  the  world  made  you  think  of  doing  such  a 
thing?  and  why  do  you  wish  to  keep  up  the  delusion 
among  your  relatives,  even  so  far  as  to  drive  your  aunt 
to  the  point  of  getting  you  divorced  from  your  airy 
husband  ?  "  And  he  laughed  again. 

"  I  told  you  how  I  came  to  think  of  it,"  she  said,  as 
they  walked  on  again.  "  It  was  very  plain  that  if  I 
wanted  to  travel  about  as  your  agent  I  must  be  mar 
ried,  and  I  have  found  a  husband  quite  a  protection 
and  an  advantage,  even  when  he  doesn't  go  about  with 
me  ;  and  as  to  keeping  up  the  delusion,  as  you  call  it, 
in  my  own  family,  I  have  found  that  to  be  absolutely 
necessary,  at  least  for  the  present.  My  aunt,  even 
when  I  was  a  little  girl,  determined  to  take  my  mar 
riage  int  *»  her  own  hands ;  and  since  I  have  returned 
to  her,  this  desire  has  come  up  again  in  the  most 
astonishing  way.  It  is  her  principal  subject  of  con 
versation  with  me.  Were  it  not  for  the  protection 
which  my  dear  Freddy  Null  gives  me  I  should  be 
thrown  bodily  into  the  arms  of  the  person  whom  my 
aunt  has  selected,  and  he  would  be  obliged  to  take  me, 
whether  he  wanted  to  or  not,  or  be  cast  forth  forever. 
So  you  see  how  important  it  is  that  my  aunt  should 
think  I  am  married ;  and  I  do  hope  you  will  not  tell 
anybody  about  Mr.  Null." 

"Of  course  I  will  keep  your  secret,"  said  Croft; 
"  you  may  rely  upon  that.  But  don't  you  think— do 
you  believe  that  this  sort  of  thing  is  altogether  right  ?  " 

She  did  not  answer  for  a  few  moments,  and  then 
she  said :  "  I  suppose  you  must  consider  me  a  very 
deceptive  sort  of  person,  but  you  should  remember 

155 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

that  these  things  were  not  done  for  my  own  good,  and, 
as  far  as  I  can  see,  they  were  the  only  things  that  could 
be  done.  Do  you  suppose  I  was  going  to  let  you 
pounce  down  on  my  cousin  and  do  him  some  injury? 
For,  as  you  kept  your  object  such  a  secret,  I  did  not 
suppose  it  could  be  anything  but  an  injury  you  in 
tended  him." 

"  A  fine  opinion  of  me  ! "  said  Croft. 

"  And  then,  do  you  suppose,"  she  continued,  "  that 
I  would  allow  my  aunt  to  quarrel  with  Junius  and 
disinherit  him,  as  she  says  she  will  should  he  decline 
to  marry  me  ?  I  expected  to  drop  my  married  name 
when  I  came  here,  but  I  had  not  been  with  my  aunt 
fifteen  minutes  before  I  saw  that  it  would  never  do  for 
me  to  be  a  single  woman  while  I  stayed  with  her ;  and 
so  I  kept  my  Freddy  by  me.  I  did  not  intend,  at  all, 
to  tell  you  all  these  things  about  my  cousin,  and  I  only 
did  'it  because  I  did  not  wish  you  to  think  that  I  was 
a  sly,  mean  creature,  deceiving  others  for  my  own 
good." 

"  Well,"  said  Croft,  "  although  I  can't  say  you  are 
right  in  making  your  relatives  believe  you  are  married 
when  you  are  not,  still,  I  see  you  had  very  fair  reasons 
for  what  you  did,  and  you  certainly  showed  a  great 
deal  of  ingenuity  and  pluck  in  carrying  out  your  re 
markable  schemes.  By  the  way,"  he  continued,  some 
what  hesitatingly,  "  I  am  in  your  debt  for  your  ser 
vices  to  me." 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it ! "  she  exclaimed  quickly.  "  I  never 
did  a  thing  for  you.  It  was  all  for  myself,  or,  rather, 
for  my  cousin.  The  only  money  due  was  that  which 
you  paid  to  Mr.  Candy  before  I  took  charge  of  the 
matter." 

156 


THE  LATE  MRS   NULL 

Lawrence  felt  that  this  was  rather  a  sore  subject 
with  his  companion,  and  he  dropped  it.  "  Do  you  still 
hold  the  position  of  cashier  in  the  Information  Shop  ?  " 

"  No,"  she  said.  "  When  I  started  out  on  my  lonely 
wedding-tour  I  gave  up  that,  and  if  I  should  go  back 
to  New  York,  I  do  not  think  I  should  want  to  take  it 
again." 

"  Do  you  propose  soon  to  return  to  New  York!  "  he 
asked. 

"  No ;  at  least,  I  have  made  no  plans  in  regard  to  it. 
I  think  it  would  grieve  my  aunt  very  much  if  I  were 
to  go  away  from  her  now,  and  as  long  as  I  have  Mr. 
Null  to  protect  me  from  her  matrimonial  schemes,  I 
am  glad  to  stay  with  her.  She  is  very  kind  to  me." 

"  I  think  you  are  entirely  right  in  deciding  to  stay 
here,"  he  said,  looking  around  at  her,  and  contrasting 
in  his  mind  the  bright-faced  and  somewhat  plump 
young  person  walking  beside  him  with  the  thin-faced 
girl  in  black  whom  he  had  seen  behind  the  cashier's 
desk. 

"  Now,"  said  she,  with  a  vivacious  little  laugh,  "  I 
have  poured  out  my  whole  soul  before  you,  and,  in  re 
turn,  I  want  you  to  gratify  a  curiosity  which  is  fairly 
eating  me  up.  Why  were  you  so  anxious  to  find  my 
cousin  Junius?  And  how  did  you  happen  to  come 
here  the  very  day  after  he  arrived  ?  And,  more  than 
that,  how  was  it  that  you  had  seen  him  at  Midbranch 
so  recently?  You  were  talking  about  it  last  night. 
It  couldn't  have  been  my  letter  from  Hewlett's  that 
brought  you  down  here  f  " 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence ;  "  my  meeting  with  Mr.  Kes- 
wick  at  Midbranch  was  entirely  accidental.  When 
I  arrived  there,  a  few  days  ago,  I  had  no  reason  to 

157 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

suppose  that  I  should  meet  him.  But  I  must  ask  you 
to  excuse  me  from  giving  my  reasons  for  wishing  to 
find  your  cousin,  and  for  coming  to  see  him  here. 
The  matter  between  us  has  now  become  one  of  no  im 
portance,  and  will  be  dropped." 

The  lady's  face  flushed.  "  Oh,  indeed  ! "  she  said. 
And  during  the  short  remainder  of  their  walk  to  the 
house  she  made  no  further  remark. 


158 


CHAPTER  XIV 

WHEN  Lawrence  and  his  companion  reached  the  house, 
they  found  on  the  porch  Mrs.  Keswick  and  her 
nephew ;  and  after  a  little  general  conversation,  the 
latter  remarked  to  Mr.  Croft  that  he  had  found  it 
would  not  be  in  his  power  to  attend  to  that  matter  he 
had  spoken  of  5  to  which  Croft  replied  that  he  was 
very  much  obliged  to  him  for  thinking  of  it,  and  that 
it  was  of  no  consequence  at  all,  as  he  would  probably 
make  other  arrangements.  He  then  stated  that  he 
would  be  obliged  to  return  to  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs  that  day,  and  that,  as  it  was  a  long  ride,  he 
would  like  to  start  as  soon  as  his  horse  could  be 
brought  to  him.  But  this  procedure  was  condemned 
utterly  by  the  old  lady,  who  insisted  that  Mr.  Croft 
should  not  leave  until  after  dinner,  which  meal  should 
be  served  earlier  than  usual  in  order  to  give  him 
plenty  of  time  to  get  to  the  Springs  before  dark ;  and 
as  Lawrence  had  nothing  to  oppose  to  her  very  urgent 
protest,  he  consented  to  stay.  Before  dinner  was  ready 
he  found  out  why  the  protest  was  made.  The  old  lady 
took  him  aside  and  made  inquiries  of  him  in  regard  to 
Mr.  Null.  He  had  already  informed  her  that  he  was 
not  acquainted  with  that  gentleman ;  but  she  thought, 
as  Mr.  Croft  seemed  to  be  going  about  the  country  a 

159 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

good  deal,  lie  might  possibly  meet  with,  her  niece's 
husband,  and,  if  he  should  do  so,  she  would  be  very 
glad  to  have  him  become  acquainted  with  him. 

To  this  Lawrence  replied  with  much  gravity  that  he 
would  be  happy  to  do  so. 

"  Mr.  Null  has  not  yet  come  to  my  house,"  said  Mrs. 
Keswick,  "and  it  is  very  natural  that  one  should 
desire  to  know  the  husband  of  her  only  niece,  who  is, 
or  should  be,  the  same  as  a  daughter  to  her." 

"  A  very  natural  wish,  indeed,"  said  Lawrence. 

"  I  am  not  quite  sure  in  what  business  Mr.  Null  is 
engaged,"  she  continued,  "  and  although  I  asked  my 
niece  about  it,  she  answered  in  a  very  evasive  way, 
which  makes  me  think  his  occupation  is  one  she  is 
not  proud  of.  I  have  reason  to  suppose,  however, 
that  he  is  an  agent  for  the  sale  of  some  fertilizing 
compound." 

At  this  Lawrence  could  not  help  smiling  very 
broadly. 

"  It  may  appear  very  odd  and  ridiculous  to  you," 
she  said,  "that  a  person  connected  with  my  family 
should  be  engaged  in  a  business  like  that,  for  those 
fertilizers,  as  you  ought  to  know,  are  all  humbugs  of 
the  vilest  kind.  The  only  time  I  bought  any  it  took 
my  whole  wheat  crop  to  pay  for  it,  and  as  for  the 
clover  I  got  afterwards,  a  grasshopper  could  have  eaten 
the  whole  of  it.  I  am  afraid  he  didn't  tell  her  his 
business  before  he  married  her,  and  Fm  glad  she's 
ashamed  of  it.  As  far  as  I  can  find  out,  it  does  not 
seem  as  if  Mr.  Null  has  any  intention  of  coming  here 
for  some  time ;  and,  as  I  said  before,  I  do  very  much 
want  to  know  something  about  him— that  is,  from  a 
disinterested  outsider.  One  cannot  expect  a  recently 

160 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

married  young  woman  to  give  a  correct  account  of 
her  husband.77 

"I  do  not  believe,77  said  Mr.  Croft,  "that  there  is 
any  probability  that  I  shall  ever  meet  the  gentleman 
—our  walks  in  life  being  so  different.77 

"  I  should  hope  so,  indeed ! 77  interrupted  Mrs.  Kes- 
wick.  "But  people  of  all  sorts  do  run  across  each 
other.77 

"  But  if  I  do  meet  with  him,77  he  continued,  "  I  shall 
take  great  pleasure  in  giving  you  my  impressions  by 
letter,  or  in  person,  of  your  nephew-in-law.77 

"  Don't  call  him  that ! 77  exclaimed  the  old  lady,  with 
much  asperity.  "  I  don't  acknowledge  the  title.  But 
I  won7t  say  any  more  about  him,77  with  a  grim  smile, 
"  or  you  may  think  I  don7t  like  him.77 

"  Some  of  these  days,77  he  said,  "  you  may  come  to 
be  of  the  opinion  that  he  is  exactly  the  husband  you 
would  wish  your  niece  to  have.7' 

"  Never ! 77  she  cried.  "  If  he  were  an  angel  in 
broadcloth.  But  I  mustn7t  talk  about  these  things. 
I  mentioned  Mr.  Null  to  you  because  you  are  the  only 
person  of  my  acquaintance  who,  I  suppose,  is  likely  to 
meet  with  him.  In  regard  to  that  little  company  I 
spoke  of  to  you,  I  have  not  quite  made  up  my  mind 
about  it,  and  therefore  haven7t  mentioned  it ;  but  if 
I  carry  out  the  plan  I  will  write  to  you  at  the  Springs, 
and  shall  certainly  expect  you  to  be  one  of  us.77 

"  That  would  give  me  great  pleasure,77  said  Law 
rence,  in  a  tone  which  indicated  to  the  quick  brain  of 
the  old  lady  that  he  would  like  to  make  a  condition, 
but  was  too  polite  to  do  so. 

"  If  Miss  March  should  agree  to  come,77  she  said,  "  it 
might  be  pleasant  for  you  to  make  one  of  her  party 

161 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

and  ride  over  at  the  same  time.  However,  I'll  let  you 
know  if  she  is  coming,  and  then  yon  can  join  her  or 
not,  as  suits  your  convenience." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,"  said  Lawrence,  in  a  tone 
which  betrayed  no  reserves. 

As  he  rode  away  that  afternoon,  Lawrence  Croft,  as 
his  habit  was  on  such  occasions,  revolved  in  his  mind 
what  he  had  heard  and  said  and  done  during  this 
little  visit  to  the  Keswick  family.  "Nothing  could 
have  turned  out  better,"  he  thought.  "  To  be  sure,  the 
young  man  could  not  or  would  not  be  of  any  assistance 
to  me,  which  is  probably  what  I  ought  to  have  ex 
pected  ]  but  the  strong-tempered  old  lady,  his  aunt, 
promises  to  be  of  tenfold  more  service  than  he  could 
possibly  be.  As  to  that  very  odd  young  lady,  Mrs. 
Keswick's  niece,  I  imagine  that  she  does  not  regard  me 
very  favorably,  for  she  was  quite  cool  after  I  refused 
to  let  her  into  the  secret  of  my  desire  to  find  her 
cousin  5  but  as  I  did  not  ask  for  her  confidences,  she 
had  no  right  to  expect  a  return  for  them.  And,  by 
the  way,  it's  odd  how  many  confidences  have  been 
reposed  in  me  since  I've  been  down  here.  Keswick 
begins  it ;  then  old  Brandon  takes  up  the  strain ;  after 
that  Mr.  Candy's  ex-cashier  tells  me  the  story  of  her 
life,  and  intrusts  me  with  the  secret  of  her  marriage 
with  a  man  of  wind— that  most  useful  Mr.  Null ;  after 
that,  her  aunt  makes  me  understand  how  much  she 
hates  Mr.  Null,  and  how  she  would  like  me  to  find 
out  something  disreputable  about  him  ;  and  then— by 
George  !  I  forgot  the  old  negro  woman  in  the  cabin  ! " 
At  this  he  put  his  hand  in  the  side-pocket  of  his  coat 
and  drew  out  the  pair  of  little  blue  shoes.  "  Why  in 
the  name  of  common  sense  did  the  old  hag  give  me 

162 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

these?  And  why  should  she  suppose  that  Mrs.  Kes- 
wick  intended  me  a  harm?  The  old  lady  never  saw 
or  heard  of  me  until  yesterday,  and  her  manner  cer 
tainly  indicated  no  dislike  of  me.  But,  of  course, 
Aunt  Patsy's  brain  is  cracked,  and  she  didn't  know 
what  she  was  talking  about.  I  shall  keep  the  shoes, 
however,  and  if  ever  the  venerable  purple  sunbonnet 
runs  afoul  of  me,  I  shall  hold  them  up  before  it  and 
see  what  happens." 

And  so,  very  well  satisfied  with  the  result  of  his 
visit  to  Hewlett's,  he  rode  on  to  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  Miss  March  re 
ceived  an  invitation  from  Mrs.  Keswick  to  spend  a 
few  days  with  her,  and  make  the  acquaintance  of  her 
niece  who  had  recently  returned  to  the  home  of  her 
childhood.  The  letter,  for  it  was  much  more  than  a 
note  of  invitation,  was  cordial,  and  in  parts  pathetic. 
It  dwelt  upon  the  sundered  pleasant  relations  of  the 
two  families,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  Mr.  Bran 
don's  visit  to  her  might  be  the  beginning  of  a  renewal 
of  the  old  intimacy.  Mrs.  Keswick  took  occasion  to 
incidentally  mention  that  the  house  would  be  particu 
larly  dull  for  her  niece  just  now,  as  Junius  was  on  the 
point  of  starting  for  Washington,  where  he  would  be 
detained  some  weeks  on  business ;  and  she  hoped  most 
earnestly  that  Miss  Roberta  would  accept  this  invita 
tion  to  make  her  acquaintance  and  that  of  her  niece ; 
and  she  designated  Thursday  of  the  following  week  as 
the  day  on  which  she  would  like  her  to  come. 

As  may  reasonably  be  supposed,  this  letter  greatly 
astonished  Miss  March,  who  carried  it  to  her  uncle, 
and  asked  him  to  explain,  if  he  could,  what  it  meant 

163 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

The  old  gentleman  was  a  good  deal  surprised  when  he 
read  it  j  but  it  delighted  him  in  a  far  greater  degree. 
He  perceived  in  it  the  first-fruits  of  his  diplomacy. 
Mrs.  Keswick  saw  that  it  would  be  to  her  interest,  for 
a  time  at  least,  to  make  friends  with  him ;  and  this 
was  the  way  she  took  to  do  it.  She  would  not  come 
to  Midbranch  herself,  and  bring  the  niece,  but  she 
would  have  Roberta  come  to  her.  In  the  pathos  and 
cordiality  Mr.  Brandon  believed  not  at  all.  What 
the  old  hypocrite  probably  wanted  was  to  enlist  his 
grateful  sympathy  in  that  ridiculous  divorce  case. 
But,  whatever  her  motives  might  be,  he  would  be 
very  glad  to  have  his  niece  go  to  her ;  for  if  anything 
could  make  an  impression  upon  that  time-hardened 
and  seasoned  old  chopping-block  of  a  woman,  it  was 
Roberta's  personal  influence.  If  Mrs.  Keswick  should 
come  to  know  Roberta,  that  knowledge  would  do  more 
than  anything  else  in  the  world  to  remove  her  objec 
tions  to  the  marriage  he  so  greatly  desired. 

He  said  nothing  of  all  this  to  his  niece ;  but  he  most 
earnestly  counselled  her  to  accept  the  invitation  and 
make  a  visit  to  the  two  ladies.  Of  course  Roberta 
did  not  care  to  go,  but  as  her  uncle  appeared  to  take 
the  matter  so  much  to  heart,  she  consented  to  gratify 
him,  and  wrote  an  acceptance.  She  found,  also,  when 
she  had  thought  more  on  the  matter,  that  she  had  a 
good  deal  of  curiosity  to  see  this  Mrs.  Keswick,  of 
whom  she  had  heard  so  much,  and  who  had  had  such 
an  important  influence  on  her  life. 


164 


CHAPTER  XV 

ON  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  Mrs.  Keswick's 
letter  arrived  at  Midbranch,  Peggy  had  great  news  to 
communicate  to  Aunt  Judy,  the  cook :  "  Miss  Rob's 
gwine  to  Mahs'  Junius's  house  in  de  kerridge,  an'  I'se 
gwine  'long  wid  her  to  set  in  front  wid  Sam." 

"  Mahs'  Junius  ain't  got  no  house/'  said  Aunt  Judy, 
turning  around  very  suddenly.  "  Does  you  mean  she 
gwine  to  old  Miss  Keswick's  ?  " 

"  Yaas,"  answered  Peggy. 

"Well,  den,  why  don'  you  say  so?  Dat  ain't  Mahs' 
Junius's  house  nohow,  though  he  lib  dar  as  much  as 
he  lib  anywhar.  Wot  she  gwine  dar  fur  ?  " 

"  Gwine  to  git  married,  I  reckon,"  said  Peggy. 

"  Git  out ! "  ejaculated  Aunt  Judy.  "  Wid  you  fur 
bride'maid?" 

"  Dunno,"  answered  Peggy.  "  She  done  tole  me  she 
didn't  think  she'd  have  much  use  fur  me,  but  Mahs' 
Robert  he  said  it  were  too  far  fur  her  to  go  widout  a 
maid ;  but  ef  she  want  me  fur  bride'maid  I'll  do  dat 
too." 

"  You  bawn  fool ! "  shouted  Aunt  Judy.  "  You  ain't 
got  sense  'nuf  to  hook  de  frocks  ob  de  bride'maids. 
An'  dat's  all  fool  talk  about  Miss  Rob  gwine  dar  to  be 
married.  When  she  an'  Mahs'  Junius  hab  de  weddin', 

165 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

dey'll  hab  it  h7yar,  ob  course.  She  gwine  to  see  ole 
Miss  Keswick,  cos  dat7s  de  way  de  fus7  families  allus 
does  afore  dey  hab  der  weddin7.  I'se  pow'ful  glad  she's 
gwine  dar,  instid  ob  ole  Miss  Keswick  comin'  h'yar. 
I  don'  wan7  her  kunjerin'  me,  an7  she'd  do  dat  as  quick 
as  winkin'  ef  de  batterbread's  a  leetle  burned,  or  dar's 
too  much  salt  in  de  soup.  You's  got  to  keep  yo'se'f 
mighty  straight,  you  Peggy,  when  you  gits  whar  ole 
Miss  Keswick  is.  Don7  you  come  none  ob  your  fool 
tricks,  or  she  kunjer  you,  an7  one  ob  your  legs  curl  up 
like  a  pig's  tail,  an7  nebber  uncurl  no  mo7.  How  you 
like  dat?" 

To  this  Peggy  made  no  reply,  but  with  her  eyes 
steadfastly  fixed  on  Aunt  Judy,  and  her  lower  jaw 
very  much  dropped,  she  mentally  resolved  to  keep 
herself  as  straight  as  possible  during  her  stay  at  the 
Keswicks7. 

"Dar's  ole  Aun7  Patsy,77  continued  the  speaker. 
"  It7s  a  mighty  long  time  sence  I7ve  seen  Aun'  Patsy. 
Dat  was  when  I  went  ober  dar  wid  Miss  Rob's  mudder 
when  de  two  fam'lies  was  fr'en's.  I  was  her  maid,  an' 
went  wid  her  jes  as  Mahs'  Kobert  wants  you  to  go 
7long  wid  Miss  Eob.  He  ain't  gwine  to  furgit  how 
dey  did  in  de  ole  times  when  de  ladies  went  visitin' 
in  der  kerridges  fur  to  stay  free,  four  days.  Aun' 
Patsy  were  pow'ful  ole  den,  but  she  didn't  die  soon 
'nuf,  an7  ole  Miss  Keswick  she  kunjer  her,  an7  now  she 
can't  die  at  all.77 

"  Nebber  die ! 77  ejaculated  Peggy. 

"  Nebber  die,  nohow ! "  answered  Aunt  Judy. 
"Mighty  offen  she  thought  she  gwine  to  die,  but 
7twarn7t  no  use.  She  can't  do  it.  An'  de  las'  time  I 
hear  ob  her,  she  alibe  yit,  jes  de  same  as  ebber.  An7 

166 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

dar  was  Mahs7  John  Keswick.  fehe  kunjer  him  cos  he 
rode  de  gray  colt  to  de  coht-house  when  she  done 
tole  him  to  let  dat  gray  colt  alone,  cos  'twarn't  hisn 
but  hern,  an7  he  go  shoot  hese'f  dead  by  de  gate-pos7. 
You's  got  to  go  fru  by  dat  pos7  when  you  go  inter  de 
gate." 

"  Dat  same  pos7 ! "  cried  Peggy. 

"  Yaas,77  said  Aunt  Judy,  "  dat  same  one.  An7  dey 
tells  me  dat  on  third  Chewsdays,  which  is  coht-day,  de 
same  as  when  he  took  de  gray  colt,  as  soon  as  it  git 
dark  he  ghos7  climb  up  to  de  top  ob  dat  pos7,  an7  set 
dar  all  night.77 

With  a  conjuring  old  woman  in  the  house,  and  a 
monthly  ghost  on  the  gate-post  outside,  the  Keswick 
residence  did  not  appear  as  attractive  to  Peggy  as  it 
had  done  before,  but  she  mentally  determined  that 
while  she  was  there  she  would  be  very  careful  to  look 
out  sharp  for  herself— a  performance  for  which  she 
was  very  well  adapted. 

It  was  on  a  pleasant  autumn  morning  that  Mr. 
Brandon  very  carefully  ensconced  his  niece  in  the 
family  carriage,  with  Peggy  and  a  trusty  negro  man, 
Sam,  on  the  outside  front  seat.  "  I  would  gladly  go 
with  you,  my  dear,77  he  said,  "even  without  the  for 
mality  of  an  invitation,  but  it  is  far  better  for  you  to 
go  by  yourself.  My  very  presence  would  provoke  an 
antagonism  in  the  old  lady,  while  with  you  personally 
it  is  impossible  that  any  such  feeling  should  exist.  I 
hope  your  visit  may  do  away  with  all  ill  feeling  be 
tween  our  families.77 

"  I  want  you  to  understand,  uncle,77  said  Miss  Ko- 
berta,  "  that  I  am  making  this  visit  almost  entirely  to 
please  you,  and  I  shall  do  everything  in  my  power  to 

167 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

make  Mrs.  Keswick  feel  that  you  and  I  are  perfectly 
well  disposed  towards  her ;  but  you  can't  expect  me 
to  exhibit  any  great  warmth  of  friendship  towards  a 
person  who  once  used  such  remarkable  and  violent 
expressions  in  regard  to  me." 

"But  those  feelings,  my  dear,"  said  Mr.  Brandon, 
"  if  we  are  to  believe  Mrs.  Keswick's  letter,  have  en 
tirely  disappeared." 

"  It  is  quite  natural  that  they  should  do  so,"  said 
Koberta,  "  as  there  is  no  longer  any  reason  for  them. 
And  there  is  another  thing  I  want  to  impress  on  your 
mind,  Uncle  Robert :  you  must  expect  no  result  from 
this  visit  except  a  renewal  of  amity  between  yourself 
and  Mrs.  Keswick." 

"  I  understand  it  perfectly,"  said  the  old  gentleman, 
feeling  quite  confident  that  if  his  family  and  Mrs.  Kes 
wick  should  once  again  become  friendly,  the  main 
object  of  his  desires  would  not  be  difficult  of  accom 
plishment.  "And  now,  my  dear,  I  will  not  detain 
you  any  longer.  I  hope  you  may  have  a  very  pleasant 
visit,  and  I  advise  you  to  cultivate  that  young  Mrs. 
Null,  whom  I  take  to  be  a  very  sensible  and  charming 
person."  Then  he  kissed  her  good-by  and  shut  the 
carriage  door. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  when  Sam 
drove  through  the  outer  Keswick  gate,  and  Peggy, 
who  had  jumped  down  to  open  said  gate,  had  made 
herself  positively  sure  that,  at  present,  there  was  no 
ghost  sitting  upon  'the  post.  Before  she  reached  the 
house,  Roberta  began  to  wonder  a  good  deal  if  she 
should  find  Mrs.  Keswick  the  woman  she  had  pictured 
in  her  mind.  But  when  the  carriage  drew  up  in  front 
of  the  porch  there  came  out  to  meet  her,  not  the  mis- 

168 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

tress  of  the  estate,  but  a  much  younger  lady,  who 
tripped  down  the  steps  and  reached  Roberta  as  she 
descended  from  the  carriage. 

"  We  are  very  glad  to  see  you,  Miss  March,"  she  said. 
"My  aunt  is  not  here  just  now,  but  will  be  back 
directly." 

"  This  is  Mrs.  Null,  isn't  it?  "  said  Roberta ;  and  as 
the  other  smiled  and  answered  with  a  slight  flush  that 
it  was,  Roberta  stooped  just  the  little  that  was  neces 
sary,  and  kissed  her.  Mrs.  Keswick's  niece  had  not 
expected  so  warm  a  greeting  from  this  lady,  to  whom 
she  was  almost  a  stranger,  and  instantly  she  said  to 
herself :  "  In  that  kiss  Freddy  dies  to  you."  For  some 
days  she  had  been  turning  over  and  over  in  her  mind 
the  question  whether  or  not  she  should  tell  Roberta 
March  that  she  was  not  Mrs.  Null.  She  greatly  disliked 
keeping  up  the  deception  where  it  was  not  necessary, 
and  with  Roberta,  if  she  would  keep  the  secret,  there 
was  no  need  of  this  aerial  matrimony.  Besides  her 
natural  desire  to  confide  in  a  person  of  her  own  sex 
and  age,  she  did  not  wish  Mr.  Croft  to  be  the  only  one 
who  shared  her  secret ;  and  so  she  had  determined  that 
her  decision  would  depend  on  what  sort  of  girl  Roberta 
proved  to  be.  "  If  I  like  her  Til  tell  her  5  if  I  don't 
I  won't,"  was  the  final  decision.  And  when  Roberta 
March  looked  down  upon  her  with  her  beautiful  eyes 
and  kissed  her,  Freddy  Null  departed  this  life  so  far 
as  those  two  were  concerned. 

Mrs.  Keswick  had,  apparently,  made  a  very  great 
miscalculation  in  regard  to  the  probable  time  of  arrival 
of  her  guest,  for  Miss  March  and  Peggy,  and  even  Sam 
and  the  horses,  had  been  properly  received  and  cared 
for,  and  Miss  March  had  been  sitting  in  the  parlor  for 

169 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

some  time,  and  still  the  old  lady  did  not  come  into 
the  house.  Her  niece  had  grown  very  anxious  about 
this  absence,  and  had  begun  to  fear  that  her  aunt  had 
treated  Miss  March  as  she  had  treated  her  on  her 
arrival,  and  had  gone  away  to  stay.  But  Plez,  whom 
she  had  sent  to  tell  his  mistress  that  her  visitor  was  in 
the  house,  returned  with  the  information  that  "ole 
miss"  was  in  one  of  the  lower  fields  directing  some 
men  who  were  digging  a  ditch,  and  that  she  would 
return  to  the  house  in  a  very  short  time.  Thus  assured 
that  no  permanent  absence  was  intended,  she  went 
into  the  parlor  to  entertain  Miss  March,  and  to  explain, 
as  well  as  she  could,  the  state  of  affairs ;  when,  as  she 
entered  the  door,  she  saw  that  lady  suddenly  arise  and 
look  steadfastly  out  of  the  window. 

" Can  that  be  Mr.  Croft?"  Miss  March  exclaimed. 

The  younger  girl  made  a  dash  forward  and  also 
looked  out  of  the  window.  Yes,  there  was  Mr.  Croft, 
riding  across  the  yard  towards  the  tree  where  horses 
were  commonly  tied. 

"Did  you  expect  him?"  asked  Roberta,  quickly. 

"  No  more  than  I  expected  the  man  in  the  moon," 
was  the  impulsive  and  honest  answer  of  her  com 
panion. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you,  Mrs.  Null,"  said  Law 
rence,  when  that  lady  met  him  on  the  porch.  And 
when  he  was  shown  into  the  parlor,  he  greeted  Miss 
March  with  much  cordiality,  but  no  surprise.  But 
when  he  inquired  after  other  members  of  the  family, 
he  was  much  surprised  to  find  that  Mr.  Keswick  had 
gone  to  Washington.  "  Was  not  this  very  unexpected, 
Mrs.  Null?  "he  asked. 

"  Why,  no,"  she  answered.  "  Junius  told  us,  almost 
170 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

as  soon  as  lie  came  here,  that  lie  would  have  to  be  in 
Washington  by  the  first  of  this  week." 

Mr.  Croft  did  not  pursue  this  subject  further,  but 
presently  remarked :  "  Are  you  and  I  the  first  comers, 
Miss  March  f  " 

Roberta  looked  from  one  of  her  companions  to  the 
other,  and  remarked :  "  I  do  not  understand  you." 

Lawrence  now  perceived  that  he  was  treading  a  very 
uncertain  and,  perhaps,  dangerous  path  of  conversa 
tion,  and  the  sooner  he  got  out  of  it  the  better ;  but 
before  he  could  decide  what  answer  to  make,  a  silent 
and  stealthy  figure  appeared  at  the  door,  beckoning 
and  nodding  in  a  very  mysterious  way.  This  proved 
to  be  the  plump  black  maid  Letty,  who,  having  at 
tracted  the  attention  of  the  company,  whispered 
loudly,  "  Miss  Annie ! "  whereupon  that  young  lady 
immediately  left  the  room. 

"What  other  comers  did  you  expect!"  then  asked 
Koberta  of  Mr.  Croft. 

"  I  certainly  supposed  there  would  be  a  small  com 
pany  here,"  he  said,  "  probably  neighborhood  people ; 
but  if  I  was  mistaken,  of  course  I  don't  wish  to  say 
anything  more  about  it  to  the  family." 

"  Were  you  invited  yourself  !  "  asked  Eoberta. 

Croft  wished  very  much  that  he  could  say  that  he 
had  accidentally  dropped  in.  But  this  he  could  not 
do,  and  he  answered  that  Mrs.  Keswick  asked  him  to 
come  about  this  time.  He  did  not  consider  it  neces 
sary  to  add  that  she  had  written  to  him  at  the  Springs, 
renewing  her  invitation  very  earnestly,  and  mention 
ing  that  Miss  March  had  consented  to  make  one  of  the 
party. 

This  was  as  far  as  Eoberta  saw  fit  to  continue  the 
171 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

subject  on  the  present  occasion,  and  she  began  to  talk 
about  the  charming  weather,  and  the  pretty  way  in 
which  the  foliage  was  reddening  on  the  side  of  a  hill 
opposite  the  window.  Mr.  Croft  was  delighted  to 
enter  into  this  new  channel  of  speech,  and  discussed 
with  considerable  fervor  the  attractiveness  of  autumn 
in  Virginia. 

Miss  Annie  found  Letty  in  a  very  disturbed  state  of 
mind.  The  dinner  had  been  postponed  until  the 
arrival  of  Miss  March,  and  now  it  had  been  still 
further  delayed  by  the  non-arrival  of  the  mistress  of 
the  house,  and  everything  was  becoming  dried  up  and 
unfit  to  eat. 

"  This  will  never  do ! "  exclaimed  Miss  Annie.  "  I 
will  go  myself  and  look  for  aunt.  She  must  have  for 
gotten  the  time  of  day,  and  everything  else." 

Putting  on  her  hat,  she  ran  out  of  the  back  door ; 
but  she  did  not  have  to  go  very  far,  for  she  found  the 
old  lady  in  the  garden,  earnestly  regarding  a  bed  of 
turnips.  ""Where  have  you  been,  my  dear  aunt?" 
cried  the  girl.  "Miss  March  has  been  here  ever  so 
long,  and  Mr.  Croft  has  come,  and  dinner  has  been 
waiting  until  it  has  all  dried  up.  I  was  afraid  that 
you  had  forgotten  that  company  was  coming  to-day. v 

"  Forgotten ! "  said  the  old  lady,  glaring  at  the  tur 
nips.  "  It  isn't  an  easy  thing  to  forget.  I  invited  the 
girl,  and  I  expected  her  to  come.  But  I  tell  you,  Annie, 
when  I  saw  that  carriage  coming  along  the  road,  all 
the  old  feeling  came  back  to  me.  I  remembered  what 
its  owners  had  done  to  me  and  mine,  and  what  they 
are  still  trying  to  do,  and  I  felt  I  could  not  go  into  the 
house  and  give  her  my  hand.  It  would  be  like  tak 
ing  hold  of  a  snake." 

172 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  A  snake ! "  cried  her  niece,  with  much  warmth. 
"  She  is  a  lovely  woman !  And  her  coming  shows  what 
kindly  feelings  she  has  for  you.  But,  no  matter  what 
you  think  about  it,  aunt,  you  have  asked  her  here, 
and  you  must  come  in  and  see  her.  Dinner  is  wait 
ing,  and  I  don't  know  what  more  to  say  about  your 
absence." 

"Go  in  and  have  dinner,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick. 
"  Don't  wait  for  me.  Til  come  in  and  see  her  after  a 
while ;  but  I  haven't  yet  got  to  the  point  of  sitting 
down  to  the  table  and  eating  with  her." 

"  Oh,  aunt ! "  exclaimed  Annie,  "  you  ought  never 
to  have  asked  her  if  you  are  going  to  treat  her  in  this 
way !  And  what  am  I  to  say  to  her  ?  "What  excuse 
am  I  to  make  ?  Are  you  not  sick  ?  Isn't  something 
the  matter  with  you?  " 

"You  can  tell  them  I'm  flustrated,"  said  the  old 
lady,  "  and  that  is  all  that's  the  matter  with  me.  But 
I'm  not  coming  in  to  dinner,  and  there  is  no  use  of 
saying  anything  more  about  it." 

Annie  looked  at  her,  the  tears  of  mortification  still 
standing  in  her  eyes.  "  I  suppose  I  must  go  and  do 
the  best  I  can,"  she  said  j  "  but,  aunt,  please  tell  me 
one  thing.  Did  you  invite  any  other  people  here? 
Mr.  Croft  spoke  as  if  he  expected  to  see  other  visitors, 
and  if  they  ask  anything  more  about  it,  I  don't  know 
what  to  say." 

"  The  only  other  people  I  invited,"  said  the  old  lady, 
with  a  grim  grin,  "  were  the  King  of  Norway  and  the 
Prime  Minister  of  Spain,  and  neither  of  them  could 
come." 

Annie  said  no  more,  but  hurrying  back  to  the  house, 
she  ordered  dinner  to  be  served  immediately.  At 

173 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

first  the  meal  was  not  a  very  lively  one.  The  young 
hostess  pro  tempore  explained  the  absence  of  the  mis 
tress  of  the  house  by  stating  that  she  had  had  a  nervous 
attack,— which  was  quite  true,— and  that  she  begged 
them  to  excuse  her  until  after  dinner.  The  two  guests 
expressed  their  regret  at  this  unfortunate  indisposi 
tion,  but  each  felt  a  degree  of  embarrassment  at  the 
absence  of  Mrs.  Keswick.  Eoberta,  who  had  heard 
many  stories  of  the  old  woman,  guessed  at  the  true 
reason,  and  if  the  distance  had  not  been  so  great  she 
would  have  gone  home  that  afternoon.  Lawrence 
Croft,  of  course,  could  imagine  no  reason  for  the  old 
lady's  absence  except  the  one  that  had  been  given 
them,  but  he  suspected  that  there  must  be  some  other. 
He  did  his  best,  however,  to  make  pleasant  conversa 
tion  ;  and  Eoberta,  who  began  to  have  a  tender  feeling 
for  the  little  lady  at  the  head  of  the  table,  who,  she 
could  easily  see,  had  been  placed  in  an  unpleasant 
position,  seconded  his  efforts  with  such  effect  that 
when  the  little  party  had  concluded  their  dinner  with 
a  course  of  hot  pound-cake  and  cream-sauce,  they 
were  chatting  together  quite  sociably. 

In  about  ten  minutes  after  they  had  all  gone  into 
the  parlor,  Miss  Annie  excused  herself,  and  presently 
returned  with  a  message  to  Miss  March  that  Mrs.  Kes 
wick  would  be  very  glad  to  see  her  in  another  room. 
This  was  a  very  natural  message  from  an  elderly  lady 
who  was  not  well,  but  Roberta  arose  and  walked  out 
of  the  parlor  with  a  feeling  as  if  she  were  about  to 
enter  the  cage  of  an  erratic  tigress.  But  she  met  with 
no  such  creature.  She  saw  in  the  back  room  into 
which  she  was  ushered  a  small  old  woman,  dressed 
very  plainly,  who  came  forward  to  meet  her,  extend- 

174 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

jtng  both  hands,  into  one  of  which  Roberta  placed  one 
of  her  own. 

"  I  may  as  well  say  at  once,  Roberta  March,"  said 
Mrs.  Keswick,  "  that  the  reason  I  didn't  come  to  meet 
you  when  you  first  arrived  was  that  I  couldn't  get 
over,  all  of  a  sudden,  the  feelings  I  have  had  against 
your  family  for  so  many  years." 

"Why,  then,  Mrs.  Keswick,"  said  Roberta,  very 
coldly,  " did  you  ask  me  to  come? " 

"  Because  I  wanted  you  to  come,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick, 
"  and  because  I  thought  I  was  stronger  than  I  turned 
out  to  be  ;  but  you  must  make  allowances  for  the  stiff 
ness  which  gets  into  old  people's  dispositions  as  well  as 
their  backs.  I  want  you  to  understand,  however,  that 
I  meant  all  I  said  in  that  letter,  and  I  am  very  glad 
to  see  you.  If  anything  in  my  conduct  has  seemed  to 
you  out  of  the  way,  you  must  set  it  down  to  the  fact 
that  I  was  making  a  very  sudden  turn,  and  starting 
out  on  a  new  track,  in  which  I  hope  we  shall  all  keep 
for  the  rest  of  our  lives." 

Roberta  could  not  help  thinking  that  the  sudden 
turn  in  the  new  track  began  with  the  visit  of  her 
uncle  to  this  house,  and  that  the  old  lady  need  not 
have  inflicted  upon  her  the  disagreeable  necessity  of 
witnessing  a  hostess  taking  a  very  repulsive  cold 
plunge  ;  but  all  she  said  was  that  she  hoped  the  fami 
lies  would  now  live  together  in  friendly  relations,  and 
that  she  was  sure  that  if  this  were  to  be  it  would  give 
her  uncle  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  She  very  much 
wanted  to  ask  Mrs.  Keswick  how  Mr.  Croft  happened 
to  be  here  at  this  time,  but  she  felt  that  her  very  brief 
acquaintance  with  the  lady  would  not  warrant  the 
discussion  of  a  subject  like  that. 

175 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  She  is  very  much  the  kind  of  woman  I  thought 
she  was,"  said  Roberta  to  herself,  when,  after  some 
further  hospitable  remarks  from  Mrs.  Keswick,  the 
two  went  to  the  parlor  together  to  find  Mr.  Croft. 
But  that  gentleman,  having  been  deserted  by  all  the 
ladies,  was  walking  up  and  down  the  greensward  in 
front  of  the  house,  smoking  a  cigar.  Mrs.  Keswick 
went  out  to  him,  and  greeted  him  very  cordially, 
begging  him  to  excuse  her  for  not  being  able  to  see 
him  as  soon  as  he  came. 

Lawrence  set  all  this  aside  in  his  politest  manner, 
but  declared  himself  very  much  disappointed  in  not 
seeing  Mr.  Keswick,  and  also  remarked  that  from  what 
she  had  said  to  him  on  his  last  visit  he  had  expected 
to  find  quite  a  little  party  here. 

"I  am  sorry,"  said  the  old  lady,  "that  Junius  is 
away,  for  he  would  be  very  glad  to  see  you,  and  it 
never  came  into  my  mind  to  mention  to  you  that  he 
was  obliged  to  be  in  Washington  at  this  time.  And 
as  for  the  party,  I  thought  afterwards  that  it  would  be 
a  great  deal  cosier  just  to  have  a  few  persons  here." 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Lawrence ;  "most  certainly,  a  great 
deal  cosier." 

Mrs.  Keswick  ate  supper  with  her  guests,  and  be 
haved  very  well.  During  the  evening  she  sustained 
the  main  part  of  the  conversation,  giving  the  com 
pany  a  great  many  anecdotes  and  reminiscences  of  old 
times  and  old  families,  relating  them  in  an  odd  and 
peculiar  way  that  was  very  interesting,  especially  to 
Croft,  to  whom  the  subject-matter  was  quite  new. 
But  although  her  three  companions  listened  to  the  old 
lady  with  deferential  attention,  interspersed  with  ap 
propriate  observations,  each  one  made  her  the  object 

176 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

of  severe  mental  scrutiny,  and  endeavored  to  discover 
the  present  object  of  her  scheming  old  mind.  Roberta 
was  quite  sure  that  her  invitation  and  that  of  Mr. 
Croft  was  a  piece  of  artful  management  on  the  part  of 
the  old  lady,  and  imagined,  though  she  was  not  quite 
sure  about  it,  that  it  was  intended  as  a  bit  of  match 
making.  To  get  her  married  to  somebody  else  would 
be,  of  course,  the  best  possible  method  of  preventing 
her  marrying  Junius  j  and  this,  she  had  reason  to  be 
lieve,  was  the  prime  object  of  old  Mrs.  Keswick's 
existence.  But  why  should  Mr.  Croft  be  chosen  as 
the  man  with  whom  she  was  to  be  thrown.  She  had 
learned  that  the  old  lady  had  seen  him  before,  but  was 
quite  certain  that  her  acquaintance  with  him  was 
slight.  Could  Junius  have  told  his  aunt  about  the 
friendship  between  herself  and  Mr.  Croft?  It  was  not 
like  him,  but  a  great  many  unlikely  things  take  place. 

As  for  Lawrence,  he  knew  very  well  there  was  a  trick 
beneath  his  invitation,  but  he  could  not  at  all  make 
out  why  it  had  been  played.  He  had  been  given  an 
admirable  opportunity  of  offering  himself  to  Miss 
March,  but  there  was  no  reason  apparent  to  him  why 
this  should  have  been  done. 

Miss  Annie,  watching  her  aunt  very  carefully,  and 
speaking  but  seldom,  quite  promptly  made  up  her 
mind  in  regard  to  the  matter.  She  knew  very  well 
the  bitter  opposition  of  the  old  woman  to  a  marriage 
between  Junius  and  Miss  March ;  and  saw,  as  plainly 
as  she  saw  the  lamp  on  the  table,  that  Roberta  had 
been  brought  here  on  purpose  to  be  sacrificed  to  Mr. 
Croft.  Everything  had  been  made  ready,  the  altar 
cleared,  and,  as  well  as  the  old  lady's  grindstone  would 
act,  the  knife  sharpened.  "  But,"  said  Miss  Annie  to 

177 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

herself,  "she  needn't  suppose  that  I  am  going  to  sit 
quiet  and  see  all  this  going  on,  with  Junius  away  off 
there  in  "Washington,  knowing  nothing  about  any 
of  it." 

Miss  Roberta  retired  quite  early  to  her  room, 
being  fatigued  by  her  long  drive,  and  she  was  just 
about  to  put  out  her  light  when  she  heard  a  little 
knock  at  the  door.  Opening  it  slightly,  she  saw  there 
Junius  Keswick's  cousin,  who  also  appeared  quite 
ready  for  bed. 

"  May  I  come  in  for  a  minute?  "  said  Annie. 

"  Certainly,"  replied  Miss  March,  admitting  her,  and 
closing  the  door  after  her. 

"  I  have  something  to  tell  you,"  said  the  younger 
lady,  admiring,  as  she  spoke,  the  length  of  her  com 
panion's  braided  hair.  "  I  intended  to  keep  it  until 
to-morrow ;  but  since  I  came  up-stairs  I  felt  I  could 
not  let  you  sleep  a  night  under  the  same  roof  with  me 
without  knowing  it.  I  am  not  Mrs.  Null." 

"  What ! "  exclaimed  Eoberta,  in  a  tone  which  made 
Annie  lift  up  her  hands  and  implore  her  not  to  speak 
so  loud,  for  fear  that  her  aunt  should  hear  her. 

"  I  know  she  hasn't  come  up-stairs  yet,  for  she  sits  up 
dreadfully  late ;  but  she  can  hear  things  almost  any 
where.  No,  I  am  not  Mrs.  Null.  There  is  no  such 
person  as  Mr.  Null,  or,  at  least,  he  is  a  mere  gaseous 
myth,  whom  I  married  for  the  sake  of  the  protection 
his  name  gave  me." 

"  This  is  the  most  extraordinary  thing  I  ever  heard," 
said  Koberta.  "  You  must  tell  me  all  about  it." 

"  I  don't  want  to  keep  you  up,"  said  Annie ;  "  you 
must  be  tired." 

"  I  am  not  tired,"  said  Koberta,  "  for  every  particle 

178 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

of  fatigue  has  flown  away."  And  with  this  she  made 
Annie  sit  down  beside  her  on  the  lounge.  "  Now  you 
must  tell  me  what  this  means,"  she  said.  "  Can  it  be 
that  your  aunt  does  not  know  about  it? " 

"Indeed,  she  does  not,"  said  Annie.  "I  married 
Freddy  Null  in  New  York,  for  reasons  which  we  need 
not  talk  of  now,  for  that  matter  is  all  past  and  gone ; 
but  when  I  came  here,  I  found,  almost  immediately, 
that  he  would  be  more  necessary  to  me  in  this  house 
than  anywhere  else." 

"  I  cannot  imagine,"  said  Roberta,  "  why  a  gaseous 
husband  should  be  necessary  to  you  here." 

"  It  is  not  a  very  easy  thing  to  explain,"  said  the 
other ;  "  that  is,  it  is  easy  enough,  but—" 

"  Oh,"  said  Roberta,  catching  the  reason  of  her  com 
panion's  hesitation,  "  I  don't  think  you  ought  to  object 
to  telling  me  your  reason.  Does  it  relate  to  your  cousin 
Junius?" 

"Well,"  said  Annie,  "not  altogether,  and  not  so 
much  to  him  as  to  my  aunt." 

"I  think  I  see,"  said  Roberta.  "A  marriage 
between  you  two  would  suit  her  very  well.  Are  you 
afraid  that  she  would  try  to  force  him  on  you?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Annie ;  "  that  would  be  bad  enough, 
but  it  would  not  be  so  embarrassing,  and  so  dread 
fully  unpleasant,  as  forcing  me  on  him,  and  that  is 
what  aunt  wants  to  do.  And  you  can  easily  see  that, 
in  that  case,  I  could  not  stay  in  this  house  at  all.  I 
scarcely  know  my  cousin  as  a  man,  my  strongest  recol 
lection  of  him  being  that  of  a  big  and  very  nice  boy, 
who  used  to  climb  up  in  the  apple-trees  to  get  me 
apples,  and  then  come  down  to  the  very  lowest  branch, 
where  he  could  drop  the  ripest  ones  right  into  my 

179 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

apron,  and  not  bruise  them.  But  even  if  I  had  been 
acquainted  with  him  all  these  years,  and  liked  him 
ever  so  much,  I  couldn't  stay  here  and  have  aunt 
make  him  take  me,  whether  he  wanted  to  or  not. 
And  unless  you  knew  my  aunt  very  well,  you  could 
not  conceive  how  unscrupulously  straightforward  she 
is  in  carrying  out  her  plans." 

"And  so,"  said  Koberta,  "you  have  quite  baffled 
her  by  this  little  ruse  of  a  marriage." 

"  Not  altogether,"  said  Annie,  with  a  smile,  "  for  she 
vows  she  is  going  to  get  me  divorced  from  Mr.  Null." 

"  That  is  funnier  than  the  rest  of  it,"  said  Koberta, 
laughing.  And  they  both  laughed  together,  but  in  a 
subdued  way,  so  as  not  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
old  lady  below  stairs. 

"  And  now  you  see,"  said  Annie,  "  why  I  must  be 
Mrs.  Null  while  I  stay  here.  And  you  will  promise 
me  that  you  will  never  tell  any  one  ?  " 

"  You  may  be  sure  I  shall  keep  your  queer  secret. 
But  have  you  not  told  it  to  any  one  but  me  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Annie ;  "  but  I  have  only  told  it  to  one 
other— Mr.  Croft.  But  please  don't  speak  of  it  to 
him." 

"Mr.  Croft!"  exclaimed  Koberta.  "How  in  the 
world  did  you  come  to  tell  him?  Do  you  know  him 
so  well  as  that?" 

"  Well,"  said  Annie,  "  it  does  seem  out  of  the  way, 
I  admit,  that  I  should  tell  him ;  but  I  can't  give  you 
the  whole  story  of  how  I  came  to  do  it.  It  wouldn't 
interest  you— at  least,  it  would,  but  I  oughtn't  to  tell 
it.  It  is  a  twisty  sort  of  thing." 

"Twisty?"  said  Koberta,  drawing  herself  up  and  a 
little  away  from  her  companion. 

180 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Annie  looked  up,  and  caught  the  glance  by  which 
this  word  was  accompanied,  and  the  tone  in  which  it 
was  spoken  went  straight  to  her  soul.  "Now/'  said 
she,  "  if  you  are  going  to  look  at  me  and  speak  in  that 
way,  I'll  tell  you  every  bit  of  it."  And  she  did  tell 
the  whole  story,  from  her  first  meeting  with  Mr.  Croft 
in  the  Information  Shop,  down  to  the  present  moment. 

"  What  is  your  name,  anyway  I "  said  Roberta,  when 
the  story  had  been  told. 

"  My  name,"  said  the  other,  u  is  Annie  Peyton." 

"  And  now,  do  you  know,  Annie  Peyton,"  said  Ro 
berta,  passing  her  fingers  gently  among  the  short, 
light-brown  curls  on  her  companion's  forehead,  "that 
I  think  you  must  have  a  very,  very  kindly  recollec 
tion  of  the  boy  who  used  to  come  down  to  the  lowest 
branches  of  the  tree  to  drop  apples  into  your  apron." 


181 


CHAPTER   XVI 

SHORTLY  after  Peggy  arrived  with  her  mistress  at  the 
Keswick  residence,  her  mind  began  to  be  a  good  deal 
disturbed.  She  had  been  surprised,  when  the  carriage 
drew  up  to  the  door,  that  "Mahs>  Junius"  had  not 
rushed  down  to  meet  his  intended  bride,  and  when  she 
found  he  was  not  in  the  house,  and  had,  indeed,  gone 
away  from  home,  she  did  not  at  all  know  what  to  make 
of  it.  If  Miss  Rob  took  the  trouble  to  travel  all  the 
way  to  the  home  of  the  man  that  the  Midbranch  people 
had  decided  she  should  marry,  it  was  a  very  wonderful 
thing  indeed  that  he  should  not  be  there  to  meet  her. 
And  while  these  thoughts  were  turning  themselves 
over  in  the  mind  of  this  meditative  girl  of  color,  and 
the  outgoing  look  in  her  eyes  was  extending  itself 
farther  and  farther,  as  if  in  search  of  some  solution  of 
the  mystery,  up  rode  Mr.  Croft. 

"Dar  he!"  exclaimed  Peggy,  as  she  stood  at  the 
corner  of  the  house  where  she  had  been  pursuing  her 
meditations.  "  He  ! "  she  continued,  in  a  voice  that 
would  have  been  quite  audible  to  any  one  standing 
near.  "Upon  my  libin'  soul,  wot  brung  him  h'yar? 
Miss  Rob  don7  wan7  him  roun',  nohow.  I  done  druv 
him  off  wunst.  Upon  my  libin7  soul,  he's  done  brung 

182 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

his  bag  behin'  him  on  de  saddle,  an'  I  reckon  he's 
gwine  to  stay." 

As  Mr.  Croft  dismounted  and  went  into  the  house, 
Peggy  glowered  at  him,  sundry  expressions,  sounding 
very  much  like  odds  and  ends  of  imprecations  which 
she  had  picked  up  in  the  course  of  a  short  but  inves 
tigative  existence,  gurgling  from  her  lips. 

"  I  wish  dat  ole  Miss  Keswick  kunjer  him.  Ef  she 
knew  how  Miss  Kob  hate  him,  she  curl  he  legs  up,  an' 
gib  him  mis'ry  spranglin'  down  he  back." 

The  hope  of  seeing  this  intruder  well  "  kunjered " 
by  the  old  lady  was  the  only  thing  that  gave  a  promise 
of  peace  to  the  mind  of  Peggy ;  and  though  her  nature 
was  by  no  means  a  social  one,  she  determined  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  some  one  or  other  in  the  house, 
hoping  to  find  out  how  Mrs.  Keswick  conducted  her 
conjurations,  at  what  time  of  day  or  night  they  were 
generally  put  into  operation,  and  how  persons  could  be 
brought  under  their  influence. 

The  breakfast-hour  in  the  Keswick  house  was  a 
variable  one.  Sometimes  the  mistress  of  the  establish 
ment  rose  early  and  wanted  her  morning  meal  before 
she  went  out  of  doors ;  at  other  times  she  would  go 
off  to  some  distant  point  on  the  farm  to  see  about  some 
thing  that  was  doing,  or  ought  to  be  done,  and  break 
fast  would  be  kept  waiting  for  her.  The  delays, 
however,  were  not  all  due  to  the  old  lady's  irregular 
habits.  Very  often  Letty  would  come  up-stairs  with 
the  information  that  the  "  bread  ain't  riz  "  j  and  as  a 
Virginia  breakfast  without  hot  bread  would  be  an  im 
possibility,  the  meal  would  be  postponed  until  the 
bread  did  conclude  to  rise,  or  until  some  substitute, 
such  as  "beaten  biscuit,"  had  been  provided. 

183 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

On  the  morning  after  his  arrival,  Lawrence  Croft 
came  down-stairs  about  eight  o'clock,  and  found  the 
lower  part  of  the  house  deserted ;  and  glancing  into 
the  dining-room  as  he  passed  its  open  door,  he  saw  no 
signs  of  breakfast.  The  house  was  cool,  but  the  sun 
appeared  to  be  shining  warmly  outside,  and  he  stepped 
out  of  the  open  back  door  into  a  small  flower-garden 
with  a  series  of  broad  boards  down  the  walk  which  lay 
along  the  middle  of  it.  Up  and  down  this  broad  walk 
Lawrence  strode,  breathing  the  fresh  air,  and  thinking 
over  matters.  He  was  not  at  all  satisfied  at  being 
here  during  Keswick's  absence,  feeling  that  he  was 
enjoying  an  advantage  which,  although  it  was  quite 
honorable,  did  not  appear  so.  What  he  had  to  do  was 
to  get  an  interview  with  Miss  March  as  soon  as  pos 
sible,  and  have  that  matter  over.  When  he  had  been 
definitely  accepted  or  rejected,  he  would  go  away. 
And,  whatever  the  result  might  be,  he  would  write  to 
his  rival  as  soon  as  he  returned  to  the  Springs,  and 
inform  him  of  it,  and  would  also  explain  how  he  had 
happened  to  be  here  with  Miss  March.  While  he  was 
engaged  in  planning  these  honorable  intentions,  there 
came  from  the  house  Mrs.  Keswick's  niece,  with  a 
basket  in  one  hand,  and  a  pair  of  scissors  in  the  other, 
and  she  immediately  applied  herself  to  cutting  some 
geraniums  and  chrysanthemums,  which  were  about  the 
last  flowers  left  blooming  at  that  season  in  the  garden. 

"  Good  morning,"  said  Croft,  from  the  other  end  of 
the  walk.  "  I  am  glad  to  see  you  out  so  early." 

"  Good  morning,"  she  replied,  with  a  look  which  in 
dicated  that  she  was  not  at  all  glad  to  see  him,  "  but 
I  don't  think  it  is  early." 

Croft  had  noticed  on  the  preceding  day  that  her 
184 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

coolness  towards  him  still  continued,  but  it  did  not 
suit  him  to  let  her  know  that  he  perceived  it.  He 
went  up  to  her,  and  in  a  very  friendly  way  remarked  : 
"  There  is  something  I  wish  very  much  you  would  tell 
me.  "What  is  your  name  ?  It  is  very  odd  that  during 
all  the  time  I  have  been  acquainted  with  you  I  have 
never  known  your  name." 

"  You  must  have  taken  an  immense  interest  in  it," 
she  said,  as  she  snipped  some  dried  leaves  off  a  twig  of 
geranium  she  had  cut. 

"  It  was  not  that  I  did  not  take  any  interest,"  said 
Croft,  "but  at  first  your  name  never  came  forward, 
and  I  soon  began  to  know  you  by  the  title  which  your 
remarkable  condition  of  wedlock  gave  you." 

"And  that  is  the  name,"  said  the  lady,  very  decidedly^ 
"  by  which  I  am  to  be  known  in  this  house.  I  am  very 
proud  of  my  maiden  name,  but  I  am  not  going  to  tell 
it  to  you  for  fear  that  some  time  you  will  use  it." 

"  Oh  ! "  ejaculated  Mr.  Croft.  "  Then  I  suppose  I 
am  to  continue  even  to  think  of  you  as  Mrs.  Null." 

"You  needn't  think  of  me  at  all,"  said  she,  "but 
when  you  speak  to  me  I  most  certainly  expect  you 
to  use  that  name.  It  was  only  by  a  sort  of  accident 
that  you  came  to  know  it  was  not  my  name." 

"  I  don't  consider  it  an  accident  at  all,"  said  Croft. 
"  I  look  upon  it  as  a  piece  of  very  kindly  confidence." 

Miss  Annie  gave  a  little  twist  to  her  mouth,  which 
seemed  to  indicate  that  if  she  spoke  she  should  express 
her  contempt  of  such  an  opinion,  and  Croft  continued : 

"  I  am  very  sorry  that  upon  that  occasion  I  should 
have  felt  myself  obliged  to  refuse  your  request  that  I 
should  make  you  acquainted  with  my  reasons  for  de 
siring  to  know  Mr.  Keswick's  whereabouts.  But  I  am 

185 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

sure,  if  you  understood  the  matter,  you  would  not  be 
in  the  least  degree—" 

"  Oh,  you  need  not  trouble  yourself  about  that,"  she 
interrupted.  "  I  don't  want  you  to  tell  me  anything 
at  all.  It  is  quite  easy  now  to  see  why  you  wished  to 
know  where  my  cousin  was." 

"It  is  impossible  that  you  should  know ! "  ex 
claimed  Croft. 

"  We  will  say  no  more  about  it,"  replied  Annie.  "  I 
am  quite  satisfied." 

"I  would  give  a  good  deal,"  said  Lawrence,  after 
looking  steadily  at  her  for  a  few  moments.  "  to  know 
what  you  really  do  think." 

Annie  had  cut  all  the  flowers  she  wanted,  or,  rather, 
all  she  could  get ;  and  she  now  stood  up  and  looked 
her  companion  full  in  the  face.  "  Mr.  Croft,"  she  said, 
"  it  has  been  necessary,  and  it  is  necessary  now,  for  me 
to  have  some  concealments,  and  I  am  sorry  for  it  ;  but 
it  isn't  at  all  necessary  for  me  to  conceal  my  opinion 
of  your  reasons  for  wanting  to  know  about  Junius. 
You  were  really  in  pursuit  of  Miss  March,  and,  know 
ing  that  he  was  in  love  with  her,  you  wanted  to  make 
sure  that  when  you  went  to  her  he  wouldn't  be  there. 
It  is  my  firm  opinion  that  is  all  there  is  about  it ;  and 
the  fact  of  your  turning  up  here  just  after  my  cousin 
left  proves  it." 

"Miss  Annie,"  exclaimed  Croft,— "I  have  heard 
you  called  by  that  name,  and  I  vow  I  won't  call  you 
Mrs.  Null  when  there  is  no  need  for  it,— you  were 
never  more  mistaken  in  your  life,  and  I  am  very 
sorry  that  you  should  have  such  a  low  opinion  of  me 
as  to  think  I  would  wish  to  take  advantage  of  your 
cousin  during  his  absence." 

186 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"Then  why  do  you  do  it?"  asked  Miss  Annie,  with 
a  little  upward  pitch  of  her  chin. 

At  this  moment  the  breakfast-bell  rang,  and  Mrs. 
Keswick  appeared  in  the  back  door,  evidently  some 
what  surprised  to  see  these  two  conversing  in  the 
garden. 

"I  am  very  much  vexed,"  said  Lawrence,  as  he 
followed  his  companion,  who  had  suddenly  turned 
towards  the  house,  "  that  you  should  think  of  me  in 
this  way." 

But  to  this  remark  Miss  Annie  had  no  opportunity 
to  reply. 

After  breakfast,  Mrs.  Keswick  proved  the  truth 
of  what  her  niece  had  said  about  her  unscrupulous 
straightforwardness  when  carrying  out  her  projects. 
She  had  invited  Mr.  Croft  and  Miss  March  to  her 
house  in  order  that  the  former  might  have  the  oppor 
tunity,  which  she  had  discovered  he  wanted  and  could 
not  get,  of  offering  himself  in  marriage  to  the  lady ; 
and  she  now  made  it  her  business  to  see  that  Mr. 
Croft's  opportunity  should  stand  up  very  clear  and 
definite  before  him,  and  that  all  interfering  circum 
stances  should  be  carefully  removed.  She  informed 
her  niece  that  she  wished  her  to  go  with  her  to  a 
thicket  on  the  other  side  of  the  wheat-field  (which 
that  young  lady  had  advised  should  be  ploughed  for 
pickles)  to  look  for  a  turkey -hen  which  she  had  reason 
to  believe  had  been  ridiculous  enough  to  hatch  out  a 
brood  of  young  at  this  improper  season.  Annie  de 
murred,  for  she  did  not  want  to  go  to  look  for  turkeys, 
nor  did  she  want  to  give  Mr.  Croft  any  opportunities ; 
but  the  old  lady  insisted,  and  carried  her  off.  Croft 
felt  that  there  was  something  very  bare  and  raw- 

187 


THE   LATE   MRS.  NULL 

boned  about  the  position  in  which  he  was  left  with 
Miss  March ;  and  he  thought  that  lady  might  readily 
suppose  that  Mrs.  Keswick's  object  was  to  leave  them 
together.  He  imagined  that  himself,  though  why 
she  should  be  so  kind  to  him  he  could  not  feel  quite 
certain.  However,  his  path  lay  straight  before  him, 
and  if  the  old  lady  had  whitewashed  it  to  make  it 
more  distinct,  he  did  not  intend  to  refuse  to  walk 
in  it. 

"  I  have  been  looking  at  that  hill  over  yonder,"  said 
he,  "  with  a  cluster  of  pine-trees  on  the  brow  of  it.  I 
should  think  there  would  be  a  fine  view  from  that 
hill.  Would  you  not  like  to  walk  up  there  ?  " 

Lawrence  felt  that  this  proposition  was  quite  in 
keeping  with  the  bareness  of  the  previous  proceed 
ings,  but  he  did  not  wish  to  stay  in  the  house  and  be 
subject  to  the  unexpected  return  of  the  old  lady  and 
her  niece. 

"Certainly,"  said  Miss  March,  "nothing  would 
please  me  better."  And  so  they  walked  up  Pine  Top 
Hill. 

When  they  reached  this  elevated  position,  they  sat 
down  on  the  rock  on  which  Mrs.  Null  had  once  con 
versed  with  Freddy,  and  admired  the  view,  which 
was,  indeed,  a  very  fine  one.  After  about  five  minutes 
of  this,  which  Lawrence  thought  was  quite  enough, 
he  turned  to  his  companion  and  said : 

"  Miss  March,  I  do  not  wish  you  to  suppose  that  I 
brought  you  up  here  for  the  purpose  of  viewing  those 
rolling  hills  and  distant  forests." 

"  You  didn't?  "  exclaimed  Koberta,  in  a  tone  of  sur 
prise. 

a  No,"  said  he,  "  I  brought  you  here  because  it  is  a 

188 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

place  where  I  could  speak  freely  to  you,  and  tell  you 
I  love  you." 

"  That  was  not  at  all  necessary,"  said  Miss  March. 
"  We  had  the  lower  floor  of  the  house  entirely  to  our 
selves,  and  I  am  sure  that  Mrs.  Keswick  would  not 
have  returned  until  you  had  waved  a  handkerchief,  or 
given  some  signal  from  the  back  of  the  house  that  it 
was  all  over." 

Croft  looked  at  her  with  a  troubled  expression. 
"Miss  March,"  said  he,  "do  you  not  think  I  am  in 
earnest  ?  Do  you  not  believe  what  I  have  said  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  you  are  in  earnest," 
she  answered.  "The  magnitude  of  the  preparation 
proves  it." 

"  I  am  glad  you  said  that,  for  it  gives  me  the  op 
portunity  for  making  an  explanation,"  said  Lawrence. 
"  Our  meeting  at  this  place  may  be  a  carefully  con 
trived  stratagem,  but  it  was  not  contrived  by  me.  I 
am  very  well  aware  that  Mr.  Keswick  also  wishes  to 
marry  you—" 

"  Did  you  see  that  in  the  Eichmond  "  Despatch,"  or 
in  one  of  the  New  York  papers?"  interrupted  Miss 
March. 

"  That  is  a  point,"  said  Lawrence,  overlooking  the 
ridicule,  "  which  we  need  not  discuss.  I  am  perfectly 
aware  that  Mr.  Keswick  is  my  rival,  but  I  wish  you 
to  understand  that  I  am  not  voluntarily  taking  any 
undue  advantage  of  his  absence.  I  believe  him  to  be 
a  very  fair  and  generous  man,  and  I  would  wish  to 
be  as  open  and  generous  as  he  is.  When  I  came,  I 
expected  to  find  him  here,  and,  standing  on  equal 
ground  with  him,  I  intended  to  ask  you  to  accept  my 
love." 

189 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Koberta,  "  would  it  not  be  more 
fair  and  generous  for  you  to  go  away  now,  and  post 
pone  this  proposal  until  some  time  when  you  would 
each  have  an  equal  chance  ?  " 

"No,  it  would  not,"  said  Lawrence,  vehemently. 
"I  have  now  an  opportunity  of  telling  you  that  I  love 
you  ardently,  passionately ;  and  nothing  shall  cause 
me  to  postpone  it.  "Will  you  not  consider  what  I 
say?  Will  you  make  no  answer  to  this  declaration 
of  most  true  and  honest  love  ?  " 

"I  am  considering  what  you  have  said,"  she 
answered,  "and  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  you 
did  not  know  of  this  cunning  little  trap  that  Mrs. 
Keswick  has  laid  for  me.  It  is  all  very  plain  to  me, 
but  I  do  not  know  why  she  should  have  selected  you 
as  one  of  the  actors  in  the  plot.  Have  you  ever  told 
her  that  you  are  a  suitor  for  my  hand  ?  " 

"Never!"  exclaimed  Lawrence.  "She  may  have 
imagined  it,  for  she  heard  I  was  a  frequent  visitor  to 
Midbranch.  But  let  us  set  all  that  aside.  I  am  on 
fire  with  love  for  you.  Will  you  tell  me  that  you 
can  return  that  love,  or  that  I  must  give  up  all  hope! 
This  is  the  most  important  question  of  my  whole 
life.  I  beg  you,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  to 
decide  it." 

"Mr.  Croft,"  said  she,  "when  you  used  to  come, 
nearly  every  day,  to  see  me  at  Midbranch,  and  we 
took  those  long  walks  in  the  woods,  you  never  talked 
in  this  way.  I  considered  you  as  a  gentleman  whose 
prudence  and  good  sense  would  not  allow  him  to  step 
outside  of  the  path  of  perfectly  conventional  social 
intercourse.  This  is  not  conventional  and  not  pru 
dent." 

190 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  I  loved  you  then,  and  I  love  you  now ! "  exclaimed 
Lawrence.  "You  must  have  known  that  I  loved 
you,  for  my  declaration  does  not  in  the  least  surprise 
you.7' 

"  Once— it  was  the  last  time  you  visited  Midbranch 
—I  suspected,  just  a  little,  that  your  mind  might  be 
affected  somewhat  in  the  way  you  speak  of,  but  I 
supposed  that  attack  of  weakness  had  passed  away." 

"  I  know  what  you  mean,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but  I 
can't  endure  to  talk  of  such  trifles.  I  love  you, 
Roberta—" 

"  Miss  March,"  she  interrupted. 

"And  I  want  you  to  tell  me  if  you  love  me  in 
return." 

Miss  March  rose  from  the  rock  where  she  had  been 
sitting,  and  her  companion  rose  with  her.  After  a 
moment's  silence,  during  which  he  watched  her  with 
intense  eagerness,  she  said :  "  Mr.  Croft,  I  am  going 
to  give  you  your  choice.  Would  you  prefer  being 
refused  under  a  cherry-tree  or  under  a  sycamore  ?  " 

There  was  a  little  smile  on  her  lips  as  she  said  this, 
which  Lawrence  could  not  interpret. 

"  I  decline  being  refused  under  any  tree,"  he  said 
with  vehemence. 

"  I  prefer  the  cherry-tree,"  said  she ;  "  there  is  a 
very  pretty  one  over  there  on  the  ridge  of  this  hill, 
and  its  leaves  are  nearly  all  gone,  which  would  make 
it  quite  appropriate.  But  what  is  the  meaning  of 
this  !  There  comes  Peggy.  It  isn't  possible  that  she 
thinks  it's  time  for  me  to  give  out  something  to  Aunt 
Judy." 

Croft  turned,  and  there  was  the  wooden  Peggy, 
marching  steadily  up  the  hill,  and  almost  upon  them. 

191 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  What  do  you  want,  Peggy  ?  "  asked  Miss  Koberta. 

"Dar's  a  man  down  to  de  house  dat  wants  him," 
pointing  to  Mr.  Croft. 

Lawrence  was  very  much  surprised.  "  A  man  who 
wants  me  ! "  he  exclaimed.  "  You  must  be  mistaken.'7 

"  No,  sah,"  replied  Peggy  ;  "  you's  de  one." 

For  a  moment  Lawrence  hesitated.  His  disposition 
was  to  let  any  man  in  the  world,  be  he  president  or 
king,  wait  until  he  had  settled  this  matter  with  Miss 
March.  But  with  Peggy  present  it  was  impossible 
to  go  on  with  the  love-making.  He  might,  indeed, 
send  her  back  with  a  message  ;  but  the  thought  came 
to  him  that  it  would  be  well  to  postpone  for  a  little 
the  pressing  of  his  suit,  for  the  lady  was  certainly  in 
a  very  untowards  humor,  and  he  was  not  altogether 
sorry  to  have  an  excuse  for  breaking  off  the  inter 
view  at  this  point.  He  had  not  yet  been  discarded, 
and  he  would  like  to  think  over  the  matter,  and  see 
if  he  could  discover  any  reason  for  the  very  disre 
spectful  manner,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  with  which 
Miss  March  had  received  his  amatory  advances.  "  I 
suppose  I  must  go  and  see  the  man,"  he  said,  "  though 
I  can't  imagine  who  it  can  possibly  be.  Will  you 
return  to  the  house  f  " 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Koberta,  "  I  will  stay  here  a  little 
longer,  and  enjoy  the  view." 


192 


CHAPTEE  XVII 

As  Lawrence  Croft  walked  down  Pine  Top  Hill  his 
mind  was  in  a  good  deal  of  a  hubbub.  The  mind  of 
almost  any  lover  would  be  stirred  up  if  he  came  fresh 
from  an  interview  in  which  his  lady  had  pinned  him, 
to  use  a  cruel  figure,  in  various  places  on  the  wall  to 
see  how  he  would  spin  and  buzz  in  different  lights. 
But  the  disdainful  pin  had  not  yet  gone  through  a 
vital  part  of  Lawrence's  hopes,  and  they  had  strength 
to  spin  and  buzz  a  good  deal  yet.  As  soon  as  he 
should  have  an  opportunity  he  would  rack  his  brains 
to  find  out  what  it  was  that  had  put  Koberta  March 
into  such  a  strange  humor.  No  one  who  simply  de 
sired  to  decline  the  addresses  of  a  gentleman  would 
treat  her  lover  as  Miss  March  had  treated  him.  It 
was  quite  evident  that  she  wished  to  punish  him. 
But  what  had  been  his  crime  f 

But  the  immediate  business  on  his  hands  was  to  go 
and  see  what  man  it  was  who  wished  to  see  him. 
Ordinarily  the  fact  that  a  man  had  called  upon  him 
would  not  be  considered  by  Lawrence  a  matter  for  cogi 
tation,  but  as  he  walked  towards  the  house  it  seemed 
to  him  very  odd  that  any  one  should  call  upon  him 
in  such  an  out-of-the-way  place  as  this,  where  so  few 
people  knew  him  to  be.  He  was  not  a  business  man, 

193 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

but  a  large  portion  of  his  funds  was  invested  in  a 
business  concern,  and  it  might  be  that  something  had 
gone  wrong,  and  that  a  message  had  been  sent  him. 
His  address  at  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs  was  known, 
and  the  man  in  charge  there  knew  that  he  was  visiting 
Mrs.  Keswick. 

These  considerations  made  him  a  little  anxious,  and 
helped  to  keep  his  mind  in  the  hubbub  which  has  been 
mentioned. 

When  he  reached  the  front  of  the  house,  Lawrence 
saw  a  lean  gray  horse  tied  to  a  tree,  and  a  man  sitting 
upon  the  porch  j  and  as  soon  as  he  made  his  appear 
ance  the  latter  came  down  the  steps  to  meet  him. 

"  I  didn't  go  into  the  house,  sir,"  he  said,  "  because 
I  thought  you'd  just  as  lief  have  a  talk  outside." 

"  What  is  your  business?  "  asked  Croft. 

The  man  moved  a  few  steps  farther  from  the  house, 
and  Lawrence  followed  him. 

"Is  it  anything  secret  you  have  to  tell  me?"  he 
asked. 

"  Well,  yes,  sir  j  I  should  think  it  was,"  replied  the 
other— a  tall  man  with  sandy  hair  and  beard,  and 
dressed  in  a  checkered  business  suit  which  had  lost  a 
good  deal  of  the  freshness  of  its  early  youth.  "  I  may 
as  well  tell  you  at  once  who  I  am.  I  am  an  anti-de 
tective.  Never  heard  of  that  sort  of  person,  I  sup 
pose?" 

"  Never,"  said  Lawrence,  curtly. 

"Well,  sir,  the  organization  which  I  belong  to  is 
one  which  is  filling  a  long-felt  want.  You  know  very 
well,  sir,  that  this  country  is  full  of  detective  officers, 
not  only  those  who  belong  to  a  regular  police  force, 
but  lots  of  private  ones,  who,  if  anybody  will  pay 

194 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

them  for  it,  will  go  to  Jericho  to  hunt  a  man  up. 
Now,  sir,  our  object  is  to  protect  society  against  these 
people.  When  we  get  information  that  a  man  is  going 
to  be  hounded  down  by  any  of  these  detectives— and 
we  have  private  ways  of  knowing  these  things— we 
just  go  to  that  man,  and  if  he  is  willing  to  become  one 
of  our  clients  we  take  him  into  our  charge ;  and  our 
business,  after  that,  is  to  keep  him  informed  of  just 
what  is  being  done  against  him.  He  can  stay  at  home 
in  comfort  with  his  wife,  settle  up  his  accounts,  and  do 
what  he  likes,  and  the  day  before  he  is  to  be  swooped 
down  on  he  gets  notice  from  us,  and  comfortably  goes 
to  Chicago,  or  Jacksonville,  where  he  can  take  his  ease 
until  we  post  him  of  the  next  move  of  the  enemy.  If 
he  wants  to  take  extra  precautions,  and  writes  a  letter 
to  anybody  in  the  place  where  he  lives,  dated  from 
London  or  Hong-Kong,  and  sends  that  letter  under 
cover  to  us,  we'll  see  that  it  is  mailed  from  the  place 
it  is  dated  from,  and  that  it  gets  into  the  hands  of  the 
detectives.  There  have  been  cases  where  a  gentleman 
has  had  six  months  or  a  year  of  perfect  comfort  by 
the  detectives  being  thrown  off  by  a  letter  like  this. 
That  is  only  one  of  the  ways  in  which  we  help  and 
protect  persons  in  difficulties,  who,  if  it  wasn't  for  us, 
would  be  dragged  off,  handcuffed,  from  the  bosom  of 
their  families,  and  who,  even  if  they  never  got  con 
victed,  would  have  to  pay  a  lot  of  money  to  get  out  of 
the  scrape.  Now,  I  have  put  myself  a  good  deal  out 
of  the  way,  sir,  to  come  to  you  and  offer  you  our 
assistance." 

"  Me  ! "  exclaimed  Croft.  "  What  are  you  talking 
about?" 

The  man  smiled.  "  Of  course  it's  all  right  to  know 
195 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

nothing  about  it,  and  it's  just  what  we  would  advise  ; 
but  I  assure  you  we  are  thoroughly  posted  in  your 
affair,  and  to  let  you  know  that  we  are,  I'll  just  men 
tion  that  the  case  is  that  of  Croft  after  Keswick, 
through  Candy." 

"  Stuff  and  nonsense  ! "  exclaimed  Lawrence,  getting 
red  in  the  face.  "  There  is  no  such  case  ! " 

He  was  about  to  say  more,  when  a  few  words  from 
the  anti-detective  stopped  him  suddenly. 

"  Look  here,  Mr.  Keswick,"  said  the  man,  levelling 
a  long  forefinger  at  him,  and  speaking  very  earnestly, 
"  don't  you  go  and  flatter  yourself  that  this  thing  has 
been  dropped  because  you  haven't  heard  of  it  for  a 
month  or  two ;  and  if  you'll  take  my  advice,  you'll 
make  up  your  mind  on  the  spot,  either  to  let  things  go 
on  and  be  nabbed,  or  to  put  yourself  under  our  pro 
tection,  and  live  in  entire  safety  until  this  thing  has 
blown  over,  without  any  trouble  except  a  little  trav 
elling." 

At  the  mention  of  Keswick's  name  Lawrence  had 
seen  through  the  whole  affair  at  a  single  mental  glance. 
The  man  was  after  Junius  Keswick,  and  his  business 
was  to  Lawrence  more  startling  and  repugnant  than 
it  could  possibly  be  to  any  one  else.  It  was  necessary 
to  be  very  careful.  If  he  immediately  avowed  who  he 
was,  the  man  might  yet  find  Keswick  before  warning 
and  explanation  could  be  got  to  him,  and  not  only 
put  that  gentleman  in  a  very  unpleasant  state  of  mind, 
but  do  a  lot  of  mischief  besides.  He  did  not  believe 
that  Mr.  Candy  had  recommenced  his  investigations 
without  consultation  with  him,  but  this  person  evi 
dently  knew  that  such  an  investigation  had  been  set 
on  foot,  and  that  would  be  sufficient  for  his  purposes. 

196 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Lawrence  decided  to  be  very  wary,  and  he  said  to  the 
man,  "  Did  you  ask  for  me  here  by  name  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  said  the  other ;  "  I  had  information  that 
you  were  here,  and  that  you  were  the  only  gentleman 
who  lived  here  j  and  although  you  are  in  your  own 
home,  I  did  not  know  but  this  was  one  of  those  cases 
in  which  names  were  dropped  and  servants  changed 
to  suit  an  emergency.  I  asked  the  little  darky  I  saw 
at  the  front  of  the  house  if  she  lived  here,  and  she  told 
me  she  had  only  just  come.  That  put  me  on  my  guard, 
and  so  I  merely  asked  if  the  gentleman  was  in,  and  she 
went  and  got  you.  We're  very  careful  about  calling 
names,  and  you  needn't  be  afraid  that  any  of  our  peo 
ple  will  ever  give  you  away  on  that  line." 

Lawrence  reflected  for  a  moment,  and  then  he  said : 
"  What  are  your  terms  and  arrangements  for  carrying 
on  an  affair  of  this  kind?  " 

"  They  are  very  simple  and  moderate,"  said  the  man, 
taking  a  wallet  from  his  pocket.  "There  is  one  of 
our  printed  slips,  which  we  show  but  don't  give  away. 
To  become  a  client  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  send  fifteen 
dollars  to  the  office,  or  to  pay  it  to  me  if  you  think  no 
time  should  be  lost.  That  will  entitle  you  to  protec 
tion  for  a  year.  After  that  we  make  the  nominal 
charge  of  five  dollars  for  each  letter  sent  you  giving 
you  information  of  what  is  going  on  against  you.  For 
extra  services,  such  as  mailing  letters  from  distant 
points,  of  course  there  will  be  extra  charges." 

Lawrence  glanced  over  the  printed  slip,  which  con 
tained  information  very  similar  to  that  the  man  had 
given  him,  and  as  he  did  so  he  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  there  would  be  nothing  dishonest  in  allowing  the 
fellow  to  continue  in  his  mistake,  and  to  endeavor  to 

197 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

find  out  what  mischief  was  about  to  be  done  in  his, 
Lawrence's,  name,  and  under  his  apparent  authority. 

"  I  will  become  a  subscriber,"  said  he,  taking  out  his 
pocket-book,  "  and  request  that  you  give  me  all  the 
information  you  possess,  here  and  immediately." 

"  That  is  the  best  thing  to  do,"  said  the  man,  taking 
the  money,  "  for,  in  my  opinion,  no  time  is  to  be  lost. 
I'll  give  you  a  receipt  for  this." 

"  Don't  trouble  yourself  about  that,"  said  Lawrence  5 
"  let  me  have  your  information." 

"  You're  very  right,"  said  the  man.  "  It's  a  great 
deal  better  not  to  have  your  name  on  anything.  And 
now  for  the  points.  Candy,  who  has  charge  of  Croft's 
job,  is  going  more  into  the  detective  business  than  he 
used  to  be,  and  we  have  information  that  he  has  lately 
taken  up  your  affair  in  good,  solid  earnest.  He  found 
out  that  Croft  had  put  somebody  else  on  your  track 
without  regularly  taking  the  business  out  of  his  hands, 
and  this  made  him  mad ;  and  I  don't  wonder  at  it,  for 
Croft,  as  I  understand,  has  plenty  of  money,  and  if  he 
concluded  to  throw  Candy  over,  he  ought  to  have  done 
it  fair  and  square,  and  paid  him  something  handsome 
in  consideration  for  having  taken  the  job  away.  But 
he  didn't  do  anything  of  the  kind,  and  Candy  considers 
himself  still  in  his  employment,  and  vows  he's  going  to 
get  hold  of  you  before  the  other  party  does ;  so,  you 
see,  you  have  got  two  sets  of  detectives  after  you,  and 
they'll  be  mighty  sharp,  for  the  first  one  that  gets  you 
will  make  the  money." 

"  Where  are  Candy's  detectives  now  f "  asked  Law 
rence. 

"  That  I  can't  tell  you  positively,  as  I  am  so  far  from 
our  New  York  office,  to  which  all  information  comes. 

198 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

But  now  that  you  are  a  subscriber  I'll  communicate 
with  headquarters  and  the  necessary  points  will  be 
immediately  sent  to  you,  by  telegraph  if  necessary. 
All  that  you  have  to  do  is  to  stay  here  until  you  hear 
from  us." 

"  From  the  way  you  spoke  just  now,"  said  Lawrence, 
"  I  supposed  the  detective  would  be  here  to-day  or 
to-morrow." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  other,  "  Candy  has  not  the  facili 
ties  for  finding  people  that  we  have.  But  it  takes 
some  time  for  me  to  communicate  with  headquarters 
and  for  you  to  hear  from  there,  and  so,  as  I  said  before, 
there  isn't  an  hour  to  be  lost.  But  you're  all  right  now." 

"  I  expected  you  to  give  me  more  definite  informa 
tion  than  this,"  said  Lawrence  ;  "  but  now,  I  suppose,  I 
must  wait  until  I  hear  from  New  York,  at  five  dollars 
a  message." 

"  My  business  is  to  enlist  subscribers,"  said  the  other. 
"  You  couldn't  expect  me  to  tell  you  anything  definite 
when  I  am  in  an  out-of-the-way  place  like  this." 

"  Did  you  come  down  to  Virginia  on  purpose  to  find 
me  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  No,"  said  the  man,  "  I  am  on  my  way  to  Mobile, 
and  I  only  lose  one  train  by  stopping  here  to  attend  to 
your  business." 

"  How  did  you  know  I  was  here1? " 

"Ah,"  said  the  anti-detective,  with  a  smile,  "as  I 
told  you,  we  have  facilities.  I  knew  you  were  at  this 
house,  and  I  came  here,  straight  as  a  die." 

"  It  is  truly  wonderful,"  said  Lawrence,  "  how  accu 
rate  your  information  is.  And  now  I  will  tell  you 
something  you  can  have  gratis.  You  have  made  one 
of  the  most  stupid  blunders  that  I  ever  heard  of.  Mr. 

199 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Keswick  went  away  from  here  nearly  a  week  ago, 
and  I  am  the  Mr.  Croft  whom  you  supposed  to  be  in 
pursuit  of  him." 

The  man  started,  and  gave  vent  to  an  unpleasant 
ejaculation. 

"  To  prove  it,"  said  Lawrence,  "  there  is  my  card, 
and,"  putting  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  "here  are 
several  letters  addressed  to  me.  And  I  want  to  let 
you  know  that  I  am  not  in  pursuit  of  Mr.  Keswick ; 
that  he  and  I  are  very  good  friends,  and  that  I  have 
frequently  seen  him  of  late ;  and  so  you  can  just  drop 
this  business  at  once.  And  as  for  Candy,  he  has  no 
right  to  take  a  single  step  for  which  I  have  not  au 
thorized  him.  I  merely  employed  him  to  get  Mr. 
Keswiek's  address,  which  I  wished  for  a  very  friendly 
motive.  I  shall  write  to  Candy  at  once." 

The  man's  face  was  not  an  agreeable  study.  He 
looked  angry ;  he  looked  baffled  j  and  yet  he  looked 
incredulous.  "  Now,  come,"  said  he  ;  "  if  you  are  not 
Keswick,  what  did  you  pay  me  that  money  fort " 

"I  paid  it  to  you,"  said  Lawrence,  "because  I 
wanted  to  find  out  what  dirty  business  you  were  doing 
in  my  name.  I  have  had  the  worth  of  my  money,  and 
you  can  now  go." 

The  man  did  not  go,  but  stood  gazing  at  Lawrence 
in  a  very  peculiar  way.  "  If  Mr.  Keswick  isn't  here," 
he  said,  "  I  believe  you  are  here  waiting  for  him,  and 
I  am  going  to  stay  and  warn  him.  People  don't  set 
private  detectives  on  other  men's  tracks  just  for 
friendly  motives." 

Lawrence's  face  flushed  and  he  made  a  step  for 
ward,  but  suddenly  checking  himself,  he  looked  at  the 
man  for  a  moment  and  then  said :  "  I  suppose  you  wa,nt 

200 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

me  to  understand  that  if  I  become  one  of  your  sub 
scribers  in  my  own  name,  you  will  be  willing  to  with 
hold  the  information  you  intended  to  give  Mr. 
Keswick." 

"  Well,"  said  the  man,  relapsing  into  his  former  con 
fidential  tones,  "  business  is  business.  If  I  could  see 
Mr.  Keswick,  I  don't  know  whether  he  would  employ 
me  or  not.  I  have  no  reason  to  work  for  one  person 
more  than  another,  and,  of  course,  if  one  man  comes 
to  me  and  another  doesn't,  I'm  bound  to  work  for  the 
man  who  comes.  That's  business  1 " 

"You  have  said  quite  enough,"  said  Lawrence. 
"  Now  leave  this  place  instantly ! " 

"  NOj  I  won't ! "  said  the  man,  shutting  his  mouth 
very  tightly,  as  he  drew  himself  up  and  folded  his  arms 
on  his  chest/ 

Lawrence  was  young,  well  made,  and  strong,  but  the 
other  man  was  taller,  heavier,  and  perhaps  stronger. 
To  engage  in  a  personal  contest  to  compel  a  fellow  like 
this  to  depart  would  be  a  very  unpleasant  thing  for 
Lawrence  to  do,  even  if  he  succeeded.  He  was  a 
visitor  here ;  the  ladies  would  probably  be  witnesses 
of  the  conflict ;  and  although  the  natural  impulse  of 
his  heart,  predominant  over  everything  else  at  that 
moment,  prompted  him  to  spring  upon  the  impudent 
fellow  and  endeavor  to  thrash  him,  still  his  instincts 
as  a  gentleman  forbade  him  to  enter  into  such  a  con 
test,  which  would  probably  have  no  good  effect,  no 
matter  how  it  resulted.  Never  before  did  he  feel  the 
weakness  of  the  moral  power  of  a  just  cause  when 
opposed  to  brutal  obstinacy.  Still  he  did  not  retreat 
from  his  position.  "Did  you  hear  what  I  said!"  he 
cried.  "  Leave  this  place  ! " 

201 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"You  are  not  master  here,"  said  the  other,  still  pre 
serving  his  defiant  attitude,  "  and  you  have  no  right  to 
order  me  away.  I  am  not  going." 

Despite  his  inferiority  in  size,  despite  his  gentle 
manly  instincts,  and  despite  his  prudent  desire  not  to 
make  an  exhibition  of  himself  before  Miss  March  and 
the  household,  it  is  probable  that  Lawrence's  anger 
would  have  assumed  some  form  of  physical  manifesta 
tion,  had  not  Mrs.  Keswick  appeared  suddenly  on  the 
porch.  It  was  quite  evident  to  her,  from  the.  aspect  of 
the  two  men,  that  something  was  wrong,  and  she  called 
out:  "Who's  that?" 

"That,  madam,"  said  Lawrence,  stepping  a  little 
back,  "  is  a  very  impertinent  man  who  has  no  business 
here,  and  whom  I've  ordered  off  the  place,  and  as  he 
has  refused  to  go,  I  propose—" 

"  Stop  ! "  cried  the  old  lady ;  and  turning,  she  rushed 
into  the  house.  Before  either  of  the  men  could  recov 
er  from  their  surprise  at  her  sudden  action,  she  reap 
peared  upon  the  porch,  carrying  a  double-barrelled 
gun.  Taking  her  position  on  the  top  of  the  flight  of 
steps,  with  a  quick  movement  of  her  thumb  she  cocked 
both  barrels.  Then,  drawing  herself  up  and  resting 
firmly  on  her  right  leg,  with  the  left  advanced,  she 
raised  the  gun,  her  right  elbow  well  against  her  side, 
and  with  her  extended  left  arm  as  steady  as  one  of  the 
beams  of  the  roof  above  her.  She  hooked  her  fore 
finger  around  one  of  the  triggers,  her  eagle  eye  glanced 
along  the  barrels  straight  at  the  head  of  the  anti-de 
tective,  and  in  a  clarion  voice  she  sang  out :  "  Go  ! " 

The  man  stared  at  her.  He  saw  the  open  muzzles 
of  the  gun-barrels ;  beyond  them,  he  saw  the  bright 
tops  of  the  two  percussion-caps ;  and  still  beyond  them, 

202 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

he  saw  the  bright  and  determined  eye  that  was  taking 
sight  along  the  barrels.  All  this  he  took  in  at  a  glance, 
and,  without  word  or  comment,  he  made  a  quick  dodge 
of  his  head,  jumped  to  one  side,  made  a  dash  for  his 
horse,  and,  untying  the  bridle  with  a  jerk,  he  mounted 
and  galloped  out  of  the  open  gate,  turning  as  he  did  so- 
to  find  himself  still  covered  by  the  muzzles  of  that  gun.. 
When  he  had  nearly  reached  the  outer  gate,  and  felt 
himself  out  of  range,  he  turned  in  his  saddle,  and  look 
ing  back  at  Lawrence,  who  was  still  standing  where 
he  had  left  him,  he  violently  shook  his  fist  in  the  air. 

"  Which  means,"  said  Lawrence  to  himself,  "  that  he 
intends  to  make  trouble  with  Keswick." 

"  That  settled  him,"  said  the  old  lady,  with  a  grim 
smile,  as  she  lowered  the  barrels  of  the  gun  and  gently 
let  down  the  hammers. 

"  Madam,"  said  Lawrence,  advancing  towards  her, 
"  may  I  ask  if  that  gun  is  loaded? " 

"  I  should  say  so,"  replied  the  old  lady.  "  In  each 
barrel  are  two  thimblefuls  of  powder,  and  half  a  box 
of  Windfall's  Teaberry  Tonic  Pills,  each  one  of  them 
as  big  and  as  hard  as  a  buckshot.  They  were  brought 
here  by  a  travelling  agent,  who  sold  some  of  them  to 
my  people ;  and  I  tell  you,  sir,  that  those  pills  made 
them  so  sick  that  one  man  wasn't  able  to  work  for  two 
days,  and  another  for  three.  I  vowed  if  that  agent  ever 
came  back,  I'd  shoot  his  abominable  pills  into  him,  and 
I've  kept  the  gun  loaded  for  the  purpose.  Was  this 
a  pill  man  ?  I  scarcely  think  he  was  a  fertilizer,  be 
cause  it  is  rather  late  in  the  season  for  those  bandits." 

"  He  is  a  man,"  said  Lawrence,  coming  up  the  steps, 
"who  belongs  to  a  class  much  worse  than  those  you 
have  mentioned.  He  is  what  is  called  a  blackmailer." 

203 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Is  that  so  ?  "  cried  the  old  lady,  her  eyes  flashing 
as  she  brought  the  butt  of  the  gun  heavily  upon  the 
porch  floor.  "  I'm  very  glad  I  did  not  know  it— very 
glad,  indeed  j  for  I  might  have  been  tempted  to  give 
him  what  belonged  to  another,  without  waiting  for 
him  to  disobey  my  order  to  go.  I  am  very  much 
troubled,  sir,  that  this  annoyance  should  have  hap 
pened  to  you  in  my  house.  Pray  do  not  allow  it  to 
interfere  with  the  enjoyment  of  your  visit  here,  which 
I  hope  may  continue  as  long  as  you  can  make  it  con 
venient." 

The  words  and  manner  convinced  Lawrence  that 
they  did  not  merely  indicate  a  conventional  hospi 
tality.  The  old  lady  meant  what  she  said.  She 
wanted  him  to  stay. 

That  morning  he  had  become  convinced  that  he  had 
been  invited  there  because  Mrs.  Keswick  wished  him 
to  marry  Miss  March ;  and  she  had  done  this,  not  out 
of  any  kind  feeling  towards  him,  because  that  would  be 
impossible  considering  the  shortness  of  their  acquaint 
ance,  but  because  she  was  opposed  to  her  nephew's 
marriage  with  Miss  March,  and  because  he,  Lawrence, 
was  the  only  available  person  who  could  be  brought 
forward  to  supplant  him.  "  But  whatever  her  motive 
is,"  thought  Lawrence,  "her  invitation  comes  in  ad 
mirably  for  me,  and  I  hope  I  shall  get  the  proper 
advantage  from  it." 

Shortly  after  this,  Lawrence  sat  in  the  parlor,  by 
himself,  writing  a  letter.  It  was  to  Junius  Keswick, 
and  in  it  he  related  the  facts  of  his  search  for  him  in 
New  York,  and  the  reason  why  he  desired  to  make 
his  acquaintance.  He  concealed  nothing  but  the  fact 
that  Keswick's  cousin  had  had  anything  to  do  with 

204 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

the  affair.  "If  she  wants  him  to  know  that,"  he 
thought,  "  she  can  tell  him  herself.  It  is  not  my  busi 
ness  to  make  any  revelations  in  that  quarter."  He 
concluded  the  letter  by  informing  Mr.  Keswick  of  the 
visit  of  the  anti-detective,  and  warning  him  against 
any  attempts  which  that  individual  might  make  upon 
his  pocket,  assuring  him  that  the  man  could  tell  him 
nothing  in  regard  to  the  affair  that  he  now  did  not 
know. 

After  dinner,  during  which  meal  Miss  March  ap 
peared  in  a  very  good  humor,  and  talked  rather  more 
than  she  had  yet  done  in  the  bosom  of  that  family, 
Lawrence  had  his  horse  saddled,  and  rode  to  the  rail 
road-station,  about  six  miles  distant,  where  he  posted 
his  letter,  and  also  sent  a  telegram  to  Mr.  Junius 
Keswick,  warning  him  to  pay  no  attention  to  any  man 
who  might  call  upon  him  on  business  connected  with 
Croft  and  Keswick,  and  stating  that  an  explanatory 
letter  had  been  sent. 

The  anti-detective  had  left  on  a  train  an  hour  before, 
but  Lawrence  felt  certain  that  the  telegram  would 
reach  Keswick  before  the  man  could  possibly  get  to 
him,  especially  as  the  latter  had  probably  not  yet 
found  out  his  intended  victim's  address. 


205 


CHAPTER  XVHI 

As  Lawrence  Croft  rode  back  to  Mrs.  Keswick's  house, 
after  having  posted  to  his  rival  the  facts  in  the  case  of 
Croft  after  Keswick,  he  did  not  feel  in  a  very  happy 
or  triumphant  mood.  The  visit  of  the  anti-detective 
had  compelled  him  to  write  to  Keswick  at  a  time  when 
it  was  not  at  all  desirable  that  he  should  make  any 
disclosures  whatever  in  regard  to  his  love-affair  with 
Miss  March,  except  that  very  important  disclosure 
which  he  had  made  to  the  lady  herself  that  morning. 
Of  course  there  was  no  great  danger  that  any  intima 
tion  would  reach  Miss  March  of  Mr.  Croft's  rather 
eccentric  search  for  his  predecessor  in  the  position 
which  he  wished  to  occupy  in  her  affections.  But  the 
matter  was  particularly  unpleasant  just  now,  and  Law 
rence  wished  to  occupy  his  time  here  in  business  very 
different  from  that  of  sending  explanations  to  rivals 
and  warding  off  unfriendly  entanglements  threatened 
by  a  blackmailer. 

It  was  absolutely  necessary  for  him  to  find  out  what 
he  had  done  to  offend  Miss  March.  Offended  that  lady 
certainly  was,  and  he  even  felt  that  she  was  glad  of 
the  opportunity  his  declaration  gave  her  to  inflict 
punishment  upon  him.  But  still  he  did  not  despair. 
When  she  had  made  him  pay  the  penalty  she  thought 

206 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

proper  for  whatever  error  he  had  committed,  she  might 
be  willing  to  listen  to  him.  He  had  not  said  anything 
to  her  in  regard  to  his  failure  to  make  her  the  prom 
ised  visit  at  Midbraneh,  for,  during  the  only  time  he 
had  been  alone  with  her  here,  the  subject  of  an  im 
mediate  statement  of  his  feelings  towards  her  had 
wholly  occupied  his  mind.  But  it  now  occurred  to 
him  that  she  had  reason  to  feel  aggrieved  at  his  failure 
to  keep  his  promise  to  her,  and  she  must  have  shown 
that  feeling,  for,  otherwise,  her  most  devoted  friend, 
Mr.  Junius  Keswick,  would  never  have  made  that 
rather  remarkable  visit  to  him  at  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs.  Of  course  he  would  not  allude  to  that  visit, 
nor  to  her  wish  to  see  him,  for  she  had  sent  him  no 
message,  nor  did  he  know  what  object  she  had  in  de 
siring  an  interview.  But  it  was  quite  possible  that 
she  might  have  taken  umbrage  at  his  failure  to  come 
to  her  when  expected,  and  that  this  was  the  reason  for 
her  present  treatment  of  him.  To  this  treatment 
Lawrence  might  have  taken  exception,  but  now  he 
did  not  wish  to  judge  her  in  any  way.  His  only  de 
sire  in  regard  to  her  was  to  possess  her,  and  therefore, 
instead  of  condemning  her  for  her  unjust  method  of 
showing  her  resentment,  he  merely  considered  how  he 
should  set  himself  right  with  her.  Cruel  or  kind,  just 
or  unjust,  he  wanted  her. 

And  then,  as  he  slowly  trotted  along  the  lonely  and 
uneven  road,  it  suddenly  flashed  upon  him— as  if,  in 
mounting  a  hill,  a  far-reaching  landscape,  hitherto 
unseen,  had  in  a  moment  spread  itself  out  before  him 
—that  perhaps  Miss  March  had  divined  the  reason  of 
his  extremely  discreet  behavior  towards  her.  Was  it 
possible  that  she  had  seen  his  motives,  and  knew  the 

207 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

truth,  and  that  she  resented  the  prudence  and  caution 
he  had  shown  in  his  intercourse  with  her  ? 

If  she  had  read  the  truth,  he  felt  that  she  had  good 
reason  for  her  resentment,  and  Lawrence  did  not 
trouble  himself  to  consider  if  she  had  shown  too  much 
of  it  or  not.  He  remembered  the  story  of  the  defeated 
general,  and,  feeling  that  so  far  he  had  been  thoroughly 
defeated,  he  determined  to  admit  the  fact,  and  to  sound 
a  retreat  from  all  the  positions  he  had  held,  but,  at 
the  same  time,  to  make  a  bold  dash  into  the  enemy's 
camp,  and,  if  possible,  capture  the  commander-in-chief 
and  the  minister  of  war. 

He  would  go  to  Eoberta,  tell  her  all  that  he  had 
thought,  and  explain  all  that  he  had  done.  There 
should  be  no  bit  of  truth  which  she  could  have  rea 
soned  out,  which  he  would  not  plainly  avow  and  set 
before  her.  Then  he  would  declare  to  her  that  his 
love  for  her  had  become  so  great  that,  rushing  over 
every  barrier,  whether  of  prudence,  doubt,  or  inde 
cision,  it  had  carried  him  with  it  and  laid  him  at  her 
feet.  When  he  had  come  to  this  bold  conclusion,  he 
cheered  up  his  horse  with  a  thump  of  his  heel,  and 
cantered  rapidly  over  the  rest  of  the  road. 

Peggy,  having  nothing  else  to  do,  was  standing  by 
the  yard  gate  when  he  came  in  sight,  and  she  watched 
his  approach  with  feelings  of  surprise  and  disgust. 
She  had  seen  him  ride  away,  and  not  considering  the 
fact  that  he  did  not  carry  his  valise  with  him,  she 
supposed  he  had  taken  his  final  departure.  She  had 
conceived  a  violent  dislike  to  Mr.  Croft,  looking  upon 
him  in  the  light  of  an  interloper  and  a  robber,  who 
had  come  to  break  up  that  expected  marriage  between 
Master  Junius  and  Miss  Bob,  which  the  servants  at 

208 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Midbranch  looked  forward  to  as  necessary  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  family,  and  the  preliminary  stages 
of  which  she  had  taken  upon  herself  the  responsibility 
of  describing  with  so  much  minuteness  of  detail.  With 
the  politeness  natural  to  the  Southern  negro,  she  opened 
the  gate  for  the  gentleman,  but  as  she  closed  it  behind 
him,  she  cast  after  him  a  look  of  earnest  malevolence. 
"  Ef  dat  ole  Miss  Keswick  don7  kunjer  you,  sah,"  she 
said  in  an  undertone,  "  Tse  gwine  to  do  it  myse'f.  So 
dar ! "  And  she  gave  her  foot  a  stamp  on  the  ground. 

Lawrence,  ignorant  of  the  malignant  feeling  he 
had  excited  in  this,  to  him,  very  unimportant  and 
uninteresting  black  girl,  tied  his  horse  and  went  into 
the  house.  As  he  passed  the  open  door  of  the  parlor 
he  saw  a  lady  reading  by  a  window  in  the  farthest 
corner.  Hanging  up  his  hat,  he  entered,  hoping  that 
the  reader,  whose  form  was  partially  concealed  by  the 
back  of  the  large  rocking-chair  in  which  she  was  sit 
ting,  was  Miss  March.  But  it  was  not ;  it  was  Mrs. 
Keswick's  niece,  deeply  engrossed  in  a  large-paged 
novel.  She  turned  her  head  as  he  entered,  and  said : 
"  Good  evening." 

"  Good  evening,  Miss  Annie,"  said  Lawrence,  seat 
ing  himself  in  a  chair  opposite  her  on  the  other  side 
of  the  window. 

"  Mr.  Croft,"  said  she,  laying  her  book  on  her  lap, 
and  inclining  herself  slightly  towards  him,  "  you  have 
no  right  to  call  me  Miss  Annie,  and  I  wish  you  would 
not  do  it.  The  servants  in  the  South  call  ladies  by 
their  first  names,  whether  they  are  married  or  not,  but 
people  would  think  it  very  strange  if  you  should  imi 
tate  them.  My  name  in  this  house  is  Mrs.  Null,  and 
I  wish  you  would  not  forget  it." 

209 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"The  trouble  with  me  is,"  said  Lawrence,  with  a 
smile,  "  that  I  cannot  forget  it  is  not  Mrs.  Null,  but,  of 
course,  if  you  desire  it,  I  will  give  you  that  name." 

"  I  told  you  before  how  much  I  desired  it,"  said  she, 
"  and  why.  When  my  aunt  finds  out  the  exact  state 
of  this  affair,  I  shall  wish  to  stay  no  longer  in  this 
house,  and  I  don't  want  my  stay  to  come  to  an  end  at 
present.  I  am  very  happy  here  with  the  only  rela 
tives  I  have  in  the  world,  who  are  ever  so  much  nicer 
people  than  I  supposed  they  were,  and  you  have  no 
right  to  come  here  and  drive  me  away." 

"  My  dear  young  lady,"  said  Croft,  "  I  wouldn't  do 
such  a  thing  for  the  world.  I  admit  that  I  am  very 
sorry  that  it  is  necessary,  or  appears  to  you  to  be  so, 
that  you  should  be  here  under  false  colors,  but—" 

"Appears  to  be,"  said  she,  with  much  emphasis  on 
the  first  word.  "  Why,  can't  you  see  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  me,  as  a  young  unmarried  woman,  to 
come  to  the  house  of  a  man  whose  proprietor,  as  Aunt 
Keswick  considers  herself  to  be,  has  been  trying  to 
marry  to  me,  even  before  I  was  grown  up?— for  the 
letters  that  used  to  make  my  father  most  angry  were 
about  this.  I  hate  to  talk  of  these  family  affairs,  and 
I  only  do  it  so  that  you  can  be  made  to  understand 
things." 

"  Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "  do  not  think  I  wish 
to  blame  you.  You  have  had  a  hard  time  of  it,  and  I 
can  see  the  peculiarities  of  your  residence  here.  Don't 
be  afraid  of  me  j  I  will  not  betray  your  secret.  While 
I  am  here  I  will  address  you,  and  will  try  to  think  of 
you,  as  a  very  grave  young  matron.  But  I  wish  very 
much  that  you  were  not  quite  so  grave  and  severe 
when  you  address  me.  When  I  was  here  last  week 

210 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

your  manner  was  very  different.     We  were  quite 
friendly  then." 

"  I  see  no  particular  reason,"  said  Annie,  "  why  we 
should  be  friendly." 

"Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  after  a  little  pause, 
during  which  he  looked  at  her  attentively,  "  I  don't 
believe  you  approve  of  me." 

"  No,"  said  she,  "  I  don't." 

He  could  not  help  smiling  at  the  earnest  directness 
of  her  answer,  though  he  did  not  like  it.  "  I  am  sorry," 
he  said,  "  that  you  should  have  so  poor  an  opinion  of 
me.  And  now,  let  me  tell  you  what  I  was  going  to 
say  this  morning  :  that  my  only  object  in  finding  your 
cousin  was  to  know  the  man  who  had  been  engaged  to 
Miss  March." 

"  So  that  you  could  find  out  what  she  probably  ob 
jected  to  in  him,  and  could  then  try  and  not  let  her 
see  anything  of  that  sort  in  you." 

"Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "you  are  unjust. 
There  is  no  reason  why  you  should  speak  to  me  in 
this  way." 

"I  would  like  to  know,"  she  said,  "what  cause 
there  could  possibly  be  for  your  wanting  to  become 
acquainted  with  a  man  who  had  been  engaged  to 
the  lady  you  wished  to  marry,  if  you  didn't  intend  to 
study  him  up,  and  try  to  do  better  yourself." 

"  My  motive  in  desiring  to  become  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Keswick,"  said  Lawrence,  "is  one  you  could 
scarcely  understand,  and  all  I  can  say  about  it  is  that 
I  believed  that  if  I  knew  the  gentleman  who  had 
formerly  been  the  accepted  lover  of  a  lady,  I  should 
better  know  the  lady." 

"  You  must  be  awfully  suspicious,"  said  she. 
211 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"No,  I  am  not,"  he  answered,  "and  I  knew  you 
would  not  understand  me.  My  only  desire  in  speak 
ing  to  you  upon  this  subject  is  that  you  may  not  un 
reasonably  judge  me." 

"  But  I  am  not  unreasonable,"  said  Annie.  "  You 
are  trying  to  get  Miss  March  away  from  my  cousin ; 
and  I  don't  think  it  is  fair,  and  I  don't  want  you  to 
do  it.  When  you  were  here  before,  I  thought  you 
two  were  good  friends,  but  now  I  don't  believe  it." 

How  friendly  might  be  the  relations  between  himself 
and  Keswick  when  the  latter  should  read  his  letter 
about  the  Candy  affair,  and  should  know  that  he  was 
in  this  house  with  Miss  March,  Lawrence  could  not 
say ;  but  he  did  not  allude  to  this  point  in  his  com 
panion's  remarks.  "I  do  not  think,"  he  said,  "that 
you  have  any  reason  to  object  to  my  endeavoring  to 
win  Miss  March.  Even  if  she  accepts  me,  it  will  be 
to  the  advantage  of  your  cousin,  because  if  he  still 
hopes  to  obtain  her,  the  sooner  he  knows  he  cannot  do 
so,  the  better  it  will  be  for  him.  My  course  is  per 
fectly  fair.  I  am  aware  that  the  lady  is  not  at  present 
engaged  to  any  one,  and  I  am  endeavoring  to  induce 
her  to  engage  herself  to  me.  If  I  fail,  then  I  step 
aside." 

"Entirely  aside,  and  out  of  the  way?"  asked  Mrs. 
Null. 

"  Entirely,"  answered  Lawrence. 

"Well,"  said  Annie,  leaning  back  in  her  chair,  in 
which  before  she  had  been  sitting  very  upright,  "  you 
have  at  last  given  me  a  good  deal  of  your  confidence— 
almost  as  much  as  I  gave  you.  Some  of  the  things  you 
say  I  believe,  others  I  don't." 

Lawrence  was  annoyed,  but  he  would  not  allow  him- 
212 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

self  to  get  angry.  "I  am  not  accustomed  to  being 
disbelieved,"  he  said  gravely.  "  It  is  a  very  unusual 
experience,  I  assure  you.  Which  of  my  statements 
do  you  doubt?" 

"  I  don't  believe,"  said  Annie,  "  that  you  will  give 
her  up  if  she  rejects  you  while  you  are  here.  You.  are 
too  wilful.  You  will  follow  her,  and  try  again." 

"  Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  do  not  feel  justified 
in  speaking  to  a  third  person  of  these  things,  but  this 
is  a  peculiar  case,  and  therefore  I  assure  you,  and  re 
quest  you  to  believe  me,  that  if  Miss  March  shall  now 
positively  refuse  me,  I  shall  feel  convinced  that  her 
affections  are  already  occupied,  and  that  I  have  no 
right  to  press  my  suit  any  longer." 

"  Would  you  like  to  begin  now  ?  "  said  Annie.  "  She 
is  coming  down-stairs." 

"You  are  entirely  too  matter-of-fact,"  said  Law 
rence,  smiling  in  spite  of  himself,  and  in  a  moment 
Roberta  entered  the  room. 

If  the  young  lady  in  the  high-backed  rocking-chair 
had  any  idea  of  giving  Mr.  Croft  and  Miss  March  an 
opportunity  of  expressing  their  sentiments  towards 
each  other,  she  took  no  immediate  steps  to  do  so  :  for 
she  gently  rocked  herself ;  she  talked  about  the  novel 
she  had  been  reading ;  she  blamed  Miss  March  for 
staying  so  long  in  her  room  on  such  a  beautiful  after 
noon  ;  and  she  was  the  primary  cause  of  a  conversation 
among  the  three  upon  the  differences  between  New 
York  weather  and  that  of  Virginia ;  and  this  continued 
until  old  Mrs.  Keswick  joined  the  party,  and  changed 
the  conversation  to  the  consideration  of  the  fact  that 
a  fertilizer  agent,  a  pill  man,  or  a  blackmailer  would 
find  out  a  person's  whereabouts,  even  if  he  were  at- 

213 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

tending  the  funeral  of  his  grandmother  on  a  desert 
island. 

The  next  morning,  about  an  hour  after  breakfast, 
Lawrence  was  walking  up  and  down  on  the  grass  in 
front  of  the  house,  smoking  a  cigar,  and  troubling  his 
mind.  He  had  had  no  opportunity  on  the  previous 
evening  to  be  alone  with  Miss  March,  for  the  little 
party  sat  together  in  the  parlor  until  they  separated 
for  bed;  and  so,  of  course,  nothing  was  yet  settled. 
He  was  overstaying  the  time  he  had  expected  to  spend 
here,  and  he  felt  nervous  about  it.  He  had  hoped  to 
see  Miss  March  after  breakfast,  but  she  seemed  to  have 
withdrawn  herself  entirely  from  observation.  Perhaps 
she  considered  that  she  had  sufficiently  rejected  him 
on  the  previous  morning,  and  that  she  now  intended, 
except  when  she  was  sure  of  the  company  of  the  others, 
to  remain  in  her  room  until  he  should  go  away.  But 
he  had  no  such  opinion  in  regard  to  their  interview  on 
Pine  Top  Hill.  He  believed  that  he  had  been  pun 
ished,  not  rejected,  and  that  when  he  should  be  able  to 
explain  everything  to  her,  he  would  be  forgiven.  That, 
at  least,  was  his  earnest  hope,  and  hope  makes  us  be 
lieve  almost  anything. 

But  although  there  were  so  many  difficulties  in  his 
way,  Lawrence  had  a  friend  in  that  household  who 
still  remained  true  to  him.  Mrs.  Keswick,  with  sun- 
bonnet  and  umbrella,  came  out  upon  the  porch,  and 
said  cheerily :  "  I  should  think  a  gentleman  like  you 
would  prefer  to  be  with  the  ladies  than  to  be  walking 
about  here  by  yourself.  They  have  gone  to  take  a 
walk  in  the  woods.  I  should  have  said  that  Miss 
March  has  gone  on  ahead,  with  her  little  maid  Peggy. 
My  niece  was  going  with  her,  but  I  called  her  back  to 

214 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

attend  to  some  housekeeping  matters  for  me,  and  I 
think  she  will  be  kept  longer  than  she  expected,  for  I 
have  just  sent  Letty  to  her  to  be  shown  how  to  cut  out 
a  frock.  But  you  needn't  wait  5  you  can  go  right 
through  the  flower-garden,  and  take  the  path  over  the 
fields  into  the  woods."  And  having  concluded  this 
bit  of  conscienceless  and  transparent  management,  the 
old  lady  remarked  that  she  herself  was  going  for  a 
walk,  and  left  him. 

Lawrence  lost  no  time  in  following  her  suggestions. 
Throwing  away  his  cigar,  he  hurried  through  the 
house  and  the  little  flower-garden,  a  gate  at  the  back 
of  which  opened  into  a  wide  pasture-field.  This  field 
sloped  down  gently  to  a  branch,  or  little  stream,  which 
ran  through  the  middle  of  it,  and  then  the  ground 
ascended  until  it  reached  the  edge  of  the  woods.  Fol 
lowing  the  well-defined  path,  he  looked  across  the 
little  valley  before  him,  and  could  see,  just  inside  the 
edge  of  the  woods,— the  trees  and  bushes  being  much 
more  thinly  attired  than  in  the  summer-time,— the 
form  of  a  lady  in  a  light-colored  dress  with  a  red  scarf 
upon  her  shoulders,  sometimes  moving  slowly,  some 
times  stopping.  This  was  Roberta ;  and  those  woods 
were  a  far  better  place  than  the  exposed  summit  of 
Pine  Top  Hill  in  which  to  plight  his  troth,  if  it  should 
be  so  that  he  should  be  able  to  do  it,  and  there  were 
doubtless  paths  in  those  woods  through  which  they 
might  afterwards  wander,  if  things  should  turn  out 
propitiously.  At  all  events,  in  those  woods  would  he 
settle  this  affair. 

His  intention  was  still  strong  to  make  a  very  clean 
breast  of  it  to  Eoberta.  If  she  had  blamed  him  for  his 
prudent  reserve,  she  should  have  full  opportunity  to 

215 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

forgive  him.  All  that  he  had  been  she  should  know ; 
but,  far  more  important  than  that,  he  would  try  to 
make  her  know,  better  than  he  had  done  before,  what 
he  was  now.  Abandoning  all  his  previous  positions, 
and  mounted  on  these  strong  resolutions,  thus  would 
he  dash  into  her  camp,  and  hope  to  capture  her. 

Beaching  the  little  ravine,  at  the  bottom  of  which 
flowed  the  branch,  now  but  two  or  three  feet  wide,  he 
ran  down  the  rather  steep  slope,  and  stepped  upon  the 
stout  plank  which  bridged  the  stream.  The  instant  he 
did  so,  the  plank  turned  beneath  him  as  if  it  had  been 
hung  on  pivots,  and  he  fell  into  the  stony  bed  of  the 
branch.  It  was  an  awkward  fall,  for  the  leg  which 
was  undermost  came  down  at  an  angle,  and  his  foot, 
striking  a  slippery  stone,  turned  under  him.  In  a 
moment  he  was  on  his  feet,  and  scrambled  up  the  side 
of  the  ravine  down  which  he  had  just  come.  When 
he  reached  the  top  he  sat  down  and  put  both  his  hands 
on  his  right  ankle,  in  which  he  felt  considerable  pain. 
In  a  few  minutes  he  arose  and  began  to  walk  towards 
the  house ;  but  he  had  not  taken  a  dozen  steps  before 
he  sat  down  again.  The  pain  in  his  ankle  was  very 
severe,  and  he  felt  quite  sure  that  he  had  sprained  it. 
He  knew  enough  about  such  things  to  understand  that 
if  he  walked  upon  this  injured  joint,  he  would  not  only 
make  the  pain  worse,  but  the  consequences  might  be 
serious.  He  was  very  much  annoyed,  not  only  that 
this  thing  had  happened  to  him,  but  that  it  had  hap 
pened  at  such  an  inauspicious  moment.  Of  course  he 
could  not  now  go  on  to  the  woods,  and  he  must  get  some 
body  to  help  him  to  the  house.  Looking  about,  he  saw, 
at  a  distance,  Uncle  Isham,  and  he  called  loudly  to  him. 

As  soon  as  Lawrence  was  well  away  from  the  edge 
216 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

of  the  ravine,  there  emerged  from  some  thick  bushes 
on  the  other  side  of  it,  and  at  a  short  distance  from 
the  crossing-place,  a  negro  girl,  who  slipped  noiselessly 
down  to  the  branch,  moved  with  quick  steps  and 
crouching  body  to  the  plank,  removed  the  two  round 
stones  on  which  it  had  been  skilfully  poised,  and  re 
placed  it  in  its  usual  firm  position.  This  done,  she 
slipped  back  into  the  bushes,  and  by  the  time  Isham 
had  heard  the  call  of  Mr.  Croft,  she  was  slowly  walking 
down  the  opposite  hill,  as  if  she  were  coming  from  the 
woods  to  see  why  the  gentleman  was  shouting. 

Miss  March  also  heard  the  call,  and  came  out  of  the 
woods,  and  when  she  saw  Lawrence  sitting  on  the  grass 
on  the  other  side  of  the  branch,  with  one  hand  upon 
his  ankle,  she  knew  that  something  had  happened,  and 
came  down  towards  him.  Lawrence  saw  her  approach 
ing,  and  before  she  was  even  near  enough  to  hear  him, 
he  began  to  shout  to  her  to  be  careful  about  crossing 
the  branch,  as  the  board  was  unsafe.  Peggy  joined 
her,  and  walked  on  in  front  of  her  j  and  when  Miss 
March  understood  what  Lawrence  was  saying,  she 
called  back  that  she  would  be  careful.  When  they 
reached  the  ravine,  Peggy  ran  down,  stepped  upon  the 
plank,  jumped  on  the  middle  of  it,  walked  over  it  and 
then  back  again,  and  assured  her  mistress  that  it  was 
just  as  good  as  ever  it  was,  and  that  she  reckoned  the 
city  gentleman  didn't  know  how  to  walk  on  planks, 
and  that  "he  jes  done  fall  off." 

Miss  March  crossed,  stepping  a  little  cautiously,  and 
reached  Lawrence  just  as  Uncle  Isham,  with  strong 
arms  and  many  words  of  sympathy,  had  assisted  him 
to  his  feet.  "  What  has  happened  to  you,  Mr.  Croft?  " 
she  exclaimed. 

217 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  I  was  coming  to  you,"  he  said,  "  and  in  crossing 
the  stream  the  plank  turned  under  me,  and  I  am  afraid 
I  have  sprained  my  ankle.  I  can't  walk  on  it." 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  she  said. 

"Because  I  was  coming  to  you,"  he  said  grimly, 
"  or  because  I  hurt  myself?  " 

"  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  speak  in  that  way," 
she  answered ;  "  but  I  won't  find  fault  with  you,  now 
that  you  are  in  such  pain.  Is  there  anything  I  can 
do  for  you?" 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  Lawrence.  "  I  will  lean  on 
this  good  man,  and  I  think  I  can  hop  to  the  house." 

"Peggy,"  said  Miss  Roberta,  "walk  on  the  other 
side  of  the  gentleman,  and  let  him  lean  upon  your 
shoulder.  I  will  go  on  and  have  something  prepared 
to  put  on  his  ankle." 

With  one  side  supported  by  the  stout  Isham,  and 
his  other  hand  resting  on  the  shoulder  of  the  good 
little  Peggy,  who  bore  up  as  strongly  under  it  as  if  she 
had  been  a  big  walking-stick,  Lawrence  slowly  made 
his  way  to  the  house.  Miss  March  got  there  some  time 
before  he  did,  and  was  very  glad  to  find  that  Mrs. 
Keswick  had  not  yet  gone  out  on  the  walk  for  which 
she  was  prepared.  That  circumspect  old  lady  had 
found  this  and  that  to  occupy  her,  while  she  so  man 
aged  her  household  matters  that  one  thing  should 
follow  another  to  detain  her  niece.  But  when  she 
heard  what  had  happened,  all  other  impulses  gave 
way  to  those  which  belonged  to  a  head  nurse  and  a 
mistress  of  emergencies.  She  set  down  her  umbrella ; 
shouted  an  order  to  Letty  to  put  a  kettle  of  water  on 
the  fire  ;  brought  from  her  own  room  some  flannel  and 
two  bottles  of  embrocation  j  and  then,  stopping  a  mo- 

218 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

ment  to  reflect,  ordered  that  the  office  should  be  pre 
pared  for  Mr.  Croft,  for  it  would  be  a  shame  to  make 
a  gentleman  with  a  sprained  ankle  clamber  up-stairs. 
The  office  was  a  small  building  in  the  wide  front 
yard,  not  very  far  from  the  house,  and  opposite  to  the 
arbor  which  has  been  before  mentioned.  It  was  one 
story  high,  and  contained  one  large  and  comfortable 
room.  Such  buildings  are  quite  common  on  Virginia 
farms,  and,  although  called  offices,  are  seldom  used  in 
an  official  way,  being  generally  appropriated  to  the 
bachelors  of  the  family  or  their  gentleman  visitors. 
This  one  was  occupied  by  Junius  Keswick  when  he 
was  at  home,  and  a  good  many  of  his  belongings  were 
now  in  it ;  but  as  it  was  at  present  unoccupied,  noth 
ing  could  be  more  proper  than  that  Mr.  Croft  should 
have  it. 


219 


CHAPTER  XIX 

ABOUT  noon  of  the  day  of  Mr.  Croft's  accident,  Uncle 
Isham  had  occasion  to  go  to  the  cabin  of  the  venerable 
Aunt  Patsy,  and  of  course  he  told  her  what  had  hap 
pened  to  the  gentleman  whom  he  and  Aunt  Patsy  still 
supposed  to  be  Miss  Annie's  husband.  The  news  pro 
duced  a  very  marked  effect  upon  the  old  woman.  She 
put  down  the  crazy-quilt,  upon  the  unfinished  corner 
of  which  she  was  making  a  few  feeble  stitches,  and 
looked  at  Uncle  Isham  with  a  troubled  frown.  She 
was  certain  that  this  was  the  work  of  old  Mrs.  Keswick, 
who  had  succeeded,  at  last,  in  conjuring  the  young 
husband ;  and  the  charm  she  had  given  him,  and  upon 
which  she  had  relied  to  avert  the  ill  will  of  "  ole  miss," 
had  proved  unavailing.  The  conjuring  had  been  ac 
complished  so  craftily  and  slyly,  the  bewitched  plank 
in  one  place  and  Mrs.  Keswick  far  off  in  another,  that 
there  had  been  no  chance  to  use  the  counteracting 
charm.  And  yet  Aunt  Patsy  had  thought  it  a  good 
charm— a  very  good  one  indeed. 

Early  in  her  married  life  Mrs.  Keswick  had  been  the 
mother  of  a  little  girl.  It  had  died  when  it  was  very 
small,  and  it  was  the  only  child  she  ever  had.  Of  this 
infant  she  preserved,  as  a  memento,  a  complete  suit 
of  its  clothes,  which  she  regarded  with  a  feeling  almost 

220 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

religions.  Years  ago,  however,  Aunt  Patsy,  in  order 
to  protect  herself  against  the  conjuring  powers  of  the 
mistress  of  the  house,  in  which  she  then  served  as  a 
sort  of  supervising  cook,  had  possessed  herself  of  the 
shoes  belonging  to  the  cherished  suit  of  clothes.  She 
knew  the  sacred  light  in  which  they  were  regarded  by 
their  owner,  and  she  felt  quite  sure  that  if tl  ole  miss  " 
ever  attempted,  in  one  of  her  fits  of  anger,  to  exercise 
her  power  of  limb-twisting  or  back-contortion  upon 
her,  that  the  sight  of  those  little  blue  shoes  would 
create  a  revulsion  of  feeling,  and,  as  she  put  it  to  her 
self,  "  stop  her  mighty  short."  The  shoes  had  never 
been  missed,  for  the  box  containing  the  suit  was  only 
opened  on  one  day  of  the  year,  and  then  all  the  old 
lady  could  endure  was  a  peep  at  the  little  white  frock 
which  covered  the  rest  of  the  contents ;  and  Aunt 
Patsy  well  knew  that  the  sight  of  those  little  blue  shoes 
would  be  to  her  mistress  like  two  little  feet  coming 
back  from  the  grave. 

Patsy  had  been  much  too  old  to  act  as  nurse  to  the 
infant  Annie  Peyton,  then  regarded  as  the  daughter 
of  the  house,  but  she  had  always  felt  for  the  child  the 
deepest  affection ;  and  now  that  she  herself  was  so  near 
the  end  of  her  career  that  she  had  little  fear  of  being 
bewitched,  she  was  willing  to  give  up  the  safeguards 
she  had  so  long  possessed,  in  order  that  they  might 
protect  the  man  whom  Miss  Annie  had  loved  and  mar 
ried.  But  they  had  failed,  or  rather  it  had  been  im 
possible  to  use  them,  and  Miss  Annie's  husband  had 
been  stricken  down. 

"  It's  pow'ful  hard  to  git  roun'  ole  miss,"  she  groaned. 
"  She  too  much  fur  ole  folks  like  I  is." 

At  this  remark  Uncle  Isham  fired  up.  Although 
221 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

the  conduct  of  his  mistress  troubled  him  at  times  very 
much,  he  was  intensely  loyal  to  her,  and  he  instantly 
caught  the  meaning  of  this  aspersion  against  her. 
"  Now,  look  h'yar,  Aun'  Patsy  ! "  he  exclaimed,  "  wot 
you  talkin'  'bout?  Wot  ole  miss  got  to  do  wid  Mister 
Oof  sprainin'  he  ankle?  Ole  miss  warn't  dar;  an' 
when  I  done  fotch  him  up  to  de  house,  she  cut  roun' 
an'  do  more  fur  him  dan  anybody  else.  She  got  de 
hot  water,  an'  she  dipped  de  flannels  in  it,  an'  she  wrop 
up  de  ankle  all  herse'f  j  an'  when  she  got  him  all  fixed 
comf 'able  in  de  office,  she  says  to  me,  says  she  :  l  Now, 
Isham,  you  wait  on  Mister  Crof ,  an'  you  gib  him 
ebery thing  he  want ;  an'  when  de  cool  ob  de  ebenin' 
comes  on  you  make  a  fire  in  dat  fireplace,  an'  stay 
whar  he  kin  call  you  whenebber  he  wants  you  to  wait 
on  him.'  I  didn't  eben  come  down  h'yar  till  I  axed 
him  would  he  want  me  fur  half  an  hour." 

"  Well,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  her  eyes  softening  a  little, 
"  p'r'aps  she  didn't  do  it  dis  time.  It  mought  'a'  been 
his  own  orkardness.  I  hopes  to  mussiful  goodness  dat 
dat  was  so.  But  wot  fur  you  call  him  Mister  Crof  ! 
Is  dat  he  fas'  name  ?  " 

"  I  reckon  so,"  said  Isham.  "  He  one  ob  de  fam'ly 
now,  an'  I  reckon  dey  calls  him  by  he  fus'  name.  An' 
now,  look  h'yar,  Aun'  Patsy,  I  wants  you  not  to  dis- 
remember  dis  h'yar.  Don'  you  go  imaginin',  ebery 
time  anything  happens  to  folks,  dat  ole  miss  done 
been  kunjerin'  'em.  Dat  ain't  pious,  an'  'tain't  suitable 
fur  a  ole  pusson  like  you,  Aun'  Patsy,  wots  jes  settin' 
on  de  poach  steps  ob  heaben,  a-waitin'  till  somebody 
finds  out  you's  dar  an'  lets  you  in." 

Aunt  Patsy  turned  her  great  spectacles  full  upon 
him,  and  then  she  said :  "  You  Isham,  ef  ebber  you  gits 

222 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

a  call  to  preach  to  folks,  you  jes  sing  out :  '  Oh,  Lor', 
I  ain't  fit ! '  And  den  you  go  crack  your  head  wid  a 
millstone,  fur  fear  you  git  called  ag'in,  fru  mistake." 

Uncle  Isham  made  no  answer  to  this  piece  of  advice, 
but  taking  up  some  clothes  which  Aunt  Patsy's  great- 
granddaughter  had  washed  and  ironed  for  him,  he  left 
the  cabin.  He  was  a  man  much  given  to  attending  to 
his  own  business,  and  paying  very  little  attention  to 
those  affairs  of  his  mistress's  household  with  which  he 
had  no  personal  concern.  When  Mr.  Croft  first  came 
to  the  house,  he,  as  well  as  Aunt  Patsy,  had  been  told 
that  it  was  Mr.  Null,  the  husband  of  Miss  Annie,  and 
although  not  thinking  much  about  it,  he  had  always 
supposed  this  to  be  the  case.  But  now  it  struck  him 
as  a  very  strange  thing  that  Miss  Annie  did  not  attend 
to  her  husband,  but  allowed  his  mistress  and  himself 
to  do  everything  that  was  done  for  him.  It  was  a 
question  which  his  mind  was  totally  incapable  of 
solving;  but  when  he  reached  the  house,  he  spoke 
to  Letty  on  the  subject. 

"  Bress  your  soul ! "  exclaimed  that  well-nourished 
person,  "dat's  not  Mister  Null,  wot  married  Miss 
Annie.  Dat's  Mister  Oof,  an'  he  ain't  married  to 
nobody.  Mister  Null  he  ain't  come  yet,  but  I  reckon 
he'll  be  along  soon." 

"Well,  den,"  exclaimed  Isham,  much  surprised, 
"how  come  Aun'  Patsy  to  take  he  fur  Miss  Annie's 
husband  ? " 

"  Oh,  git  out ! "  contemptuously  exclaimed  Letty. 
"  Don'  you  go  put  no  'count  on  dem  fool  notions  wot 
Aun'  Patsy  got  in  she  ole  head.  Nobody  knows  how 
dey  come  dar,  no  more'n  how  dey  ebber  manage  to  git 
out  'Tain't  no  use  'splainin'  nothin'  to  Aun'  Patsy, 

223 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

an*  if  she  b'lieves  dat's  Miss  Annie's  husband,  you 
can't  make  her  b'lieve  it's  anybody  else.  Jes  you  lef 
her  alone.  Nuffin  she  b'lieves  ain't  gwine  to  hurt 
her." 

And  Isham,  remembering  his  frequent  ill  success  in 
endeavoring  to  make  Aunt  Patsy  think  as  she  ought 
to  think,  concluded  that  this  was  good  advice. 

At  the  time  of  the  conversation  just  mentioned, 
Lawrence  was  sitting  in  a  large  easy-chair  in  front  of 
the  open  door  of  the  room  of  which  he  had  been  put 
in  possession.  His  injured  foot  was  resting  upon  a 
cushioned  stool ;  a  small  table  stood  by  him,  on  which 
were  his  cigar-  and  match-cases,  a  pitcher  of  iced  water 
and  a  glass,  and  a  late  copy  of  a  semi- weekly  paper. 
Through  the  doorway,  which  was  but  two  steps  higher 
than  the  grass  sward  before  it,  his  eyes  fell  upon  a  very 
pleasing  scene.  To  the  right  was  the  house,  with  its 
vine-covered  porch  and  several  great  oak-trees  over 
hanging  it,  which  still  retained  their  heavy  foliage, 
although  it  was  beginning  to  lose  something  of  its 
summer  green.  In  front  of  him,  at  the  opposite  end 
of  the  grassy  yard,  was  the  pretty  little  arbor  in  which 
he  had  told  Mr.  Junius  Keswick  of  the  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  his  speaking  his  mind  to  Miss  March.  Be 
yond  the  large  garden,  at  the  back  of  this  arbor, 
stretched  a  wide  field  with  a  fringe  of  woods  at  its 
distant  edge,  gay  with  the  colors  of  autumn.  The  sky 
was  bright  and  blue,  and  fair  white  clouds  moved 
slowly  over  its  surface  j  the  air  was  sunny  and  warm, 
with  bumblebees  humming  about  some  late-flowering 
shrubs  5  and  high  in  the  air  floated  two  great  turkey- 
buzzards,  with  a  beauty  of  motion  surpassed  by  no 
other  flying  thing,  with  never  a  movement  of  tbcir 

224 


THE  LATE   MRS.  NULL 

wide-spread  wings,  except  to  give  them  the  necessary 
inclination  as  they  rose  with  the  wind,  and  then  turned 
and  descended  in  a  long  sweep,  only  to  rise  again  and 
complete  the  circle— sailing  thus  for  hours,  around  and 
around,  their  shadows  moving  over  the  fields  below 
them. 

Fearing  that  he  had  sustained  some  injury  more  than 
a  mere  sprain,  Lawrence  had  had  the  Hewlett's  doctor 
summoned,  and  that  general  practitioner  had  come 
and  gone,  after  having  assured  Mr.  Croft  that  no  bones 
had  been  broken,  that  Mrs.  Keswick's  treatment  was 
exactly  what  it  should  be,  and  that  all  that  was  neces 
sary  for  him  was  to  remain  quiet  for  a  few  days,  and 
be  very  careful  not  to  use  the  injured  ankle.  Thus 
he  had  the  prospect  of  but  a  short  confinement ;  he 
felt  no  present  pain  ;  and  there  was  nothing  of  the 
sick-room  atmosphere  in  his  surroundings,  for  his 
position  close  to  the  door  almost  gave  him  the  advan 
tage  of  sitting  in  the  open  air  of  this  bright  autumnal 
day. 

But  Lawrence's  mind  dwelt  not  at  all  on  these 
ameliorating  circumstances;  it  dwelt  only  upon  the 
fact  that  he  was  in  one  house  and  Miss  March  was  in 
another.  It  was  impossible  for  him  to  go  to  her,  and 
he  had  no  reason  to  believe  that  she  would  come  to 
him.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  it  would  be  natu 
ral  enough  for  her  to  look  in  upon  him  and  inquire 
into  his  condition,  but  now  the  case  was  very  different. 
She  knew  that  he  desired  to  see  her,  that  he  had  been 
coming  to  her  when  he  met  with  his  accident,  and  she 
knew,  too,  exactly  what  he  wanted  to  say ;  and  it  way 
not  to  be  supposed  that  a  lady  would  come  to  a  man 
to  be  wooed,  especially  this  lady,  who  had  been  in  such 

225 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

an  unfavorable  humor  when  he  had  wooed  her  the  day 
before. 

But  it  was  quite  impossible  for  Lawrence,  at  this 
most  important  crisis  of  his  life,  to  sit  without  action 
for  three  or  four  days,  during  which  time  it  was  not 
unlikely  that  Miss  March  might  go  home.  But  what 
was  he  to  do  ?  It  would  be  ridiculous  to  think  of  send 
ing  for  her,  she  knowing  for  what  purpose  she  was 
wanted ;  and  as  for  writing  a  letter,  that  did  not  suit 
him  at  all.  There  was  too  much  to  be  explained,  too 
much  to  be  urged,  too  much  to  be  avowed,  and  prob 
ably  too  many  contingencies  to  be  met,  for  him  to 
even  consider  the  subject  of  writing  a  letter.  A  pro 
posal  on  paper  would  most  certainly  bring  a  rejection 
on  paper.  He  could  think  of  no  plan  ;  he  must  trust 
to  chance.  If  his  lucky  star— and  it  had  shone  a  good 
deal  in  his  life— should  give  him  an  opportunity  of 
speaking  to  her,  he  would  lose  not  an  instant  in  broach 
ing  the  important  subject.  He  was  happy  to  think 
he  had  a  friend  in  the  old  lady.  Perhaps  she  might 
bring  about  the  desired  interview.  But  although  this 
thought  was  encouraging,  he  could  not  but  tremble 
when  he  remembered  the  very  plain  and  unvarnished 
way  she  had  of  doing  such  things. 

While  these  thoughts  were  passing  through  his  mind, 
a  lady  came  out  upon  the  porch  and  descended  the 
steps.  At  the  first  sight  of  her  through  the  vines, 
Lawrence  had  thought  it  might  be  Miss  March,  and 
his  heart  had  given  a  jump.  But  it  was  not ;  it  was 
Mrs.  Null ;  and  she  came  over  the  grass  towards  him, 
and  stopped  in  front  of  his  door.  "  How  are  you  feel 
ing  now?"  she  asked.  "Does  your  foot  still  hurt 
you?" 

226 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Lawrence,  "I  am  in  no  pain.  The 
only  thing  that  troubles  me  is  that  I  have  to  stay  just 
here." 

"  It  might  have  been  better  on  some  accounts,"  said 
she,  "  if  you  had  been  taken  into  the  house ;  but  it 
would  have  hurt  you  dreadfully  to  go  up-stairs,  unless 
Uncle  Isham  carried  you  on  his  back,  which  I  don't 
believe  he  could  do." 

"  Of  course  it's  a  great  deal  better  out  here,"  said 
Lawrence.  "  In  fact,  this  is  a  perfectly  charming  place 
to  be  laid  up  in.  But  I  want  to  get  about.  I  want  to 
see  people." 

"  Many  people?  "  asked  she,  with  a  significant  little 
smile. 

Lawrence  smiled  in  return.  "  You  must  know,  Mrs. 
Null,  from  what  I  have  told  you,"  he  said,  "  that  there 
is  one  person  I  want  to  see  very  much,  and  that  is  why 
I  am  so  annoyed  at  being  kept  here  in  this  chair." 

"You  must  be  of  an  uncommonly  impatient  turn 
of  mind,"  she  said,  "  for  you  haven't  been  here  three 
hours  altogether,  and  hundreds  of  persons  sit  still  that 
long  just  because  they  want  to." 

"  I  don't  want  to  sit  still  a  minute,"  said  Lawrence. 
"  I  very  much  wish  to  speak  to  Miss  March.  Couldn't 
you  contrive  an  opportunity  for  me  to  do  so  ?  " 

"  It  is  possible  that  I  might,"  she  said,  "  but  I  won't. 
Haven't  I  told  you  that  I  don't  approve  of  this  affair 
of  yours  ?  My  cousin  is  in  love  with  Miss  March,  and 
all  I  should  do  for  you  would  be  directly  against  him. 
Aunt  so  managed  things  this  morning  that  I  was 
actually  obliged  to  give  you  an  opportunity  to  be 
with  her ;  but  I  had  intended  going  with  Roberta  to 
the  woods,  as  she  had  asked  me  to  do." 

227 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  You  are  very  cruel,"  said  Lawrence. 

"  No,  I  am  not,"  said  she ;  "  I  am  only  just." 

"I  explained  to  you  yesterday,"  said  he,  "that 
your  course  of  thinking  and  acting  is  not  just,  and 
is  of  no  possible  advantage  to  anybody.  How  can  it 
injure  your  cousin  if  Miss  March  refuses  me  and  I  go 
away  and  never  see  her  again!  And  if  she  accepts 
me,  then  you  should  be  glad  that  I  had  put  an  end 
to  your  cousin's  pursuit  of  a  woman  who  does  not 
love  him." 

"  That  is  nonsense,"  said  she.  "  I  shouldn't  be  glad 
at  all  to  see  him  disappointed.  I  should  feel  like  a 
traitor  if  I  helped  you.  But  I  did  not  come  to  talk 
about  these  things.  I  came  to  ask  you  what  you 
would  have  for  dinner." 

"  I  had  an  idea,"  said  Lawrence,  not  regarding  this 
remark,  "  that  you  were  a  young  lady  of  a  kindly  dis 
position." 

"  And  you  don't  think  so  now  ?  "  she  said. 

"ISTo,"  answered  Lawrence,  "I  cannot.  I  cannot 
think  a  woman  kind  who  will  refuse  to  assist  a  man 
situated  as  I  am  to  settle  the  most  important  ques 
tion  of  his  life,  especially  as  I  have  told  you  before 
that  it  is  really  to  the  interest  of  the  one  you  are 
acting  for  that  it  should  be  settled." 

Miss  Annie,  still  standing  in  front  of  the  door,  now 
regarded  Lawrence  with  a  certain  degree  of  thought- 
fulness  on  her  countenance,  which  presently  changed 
to  a  half-smile.  "  If  I  were  perfectly  sure,"  she  said, 
"that  she  would  reject  you,  I  would  try  to  get  her 
here,  and  have  the  matter  settled ;  but  I  don't  know 
her  very  well  yet,  and  can't  feel  at  all  certain  as  to 
what  she  might  do." 

228 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  I  like  your  frankness,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but,  as  I 
said  before,  you  are  very  cruel." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  she ;  "  I  am  very  kind,  only—" 

"  You  don't  show  it,"  interrupted  Lawrence. 

At  this  Miss  Annie  laughed.  "Kindness  isn't  of 
much  use  if  it  is  shut  up,  is  it?"  she  said.  "I  sup 
pose  you  think  it  is  one  of  those  virtues  that  we 
ought  to  act  out,  as  well  as  feel,  if  we  want  any 
credit.  And  now,  isn't  there  something  I  can  do  for 
you  besides  bringing  another  man's  sweetheart  to 
you  f  " 

Lawrence  smiled.  "I  don't  believe  she  is  his 
sweetheart,"  he  said,  "and  I  want  to  find  out  if  I 
am  right." 

"It  is  my  opinion,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "that  you 
ought  to  think  more  about  your  sprained  ankle  and 
your  general  health  than  about  having  your  mind 
settled  by  Miss  March.  I  should  think  that  keeping 
your  blood  boiling,  in  this  way,  would  inflame  your 
joints." 

"The  doctor  didn't  tell  me  what  to  think  about," 
said  Lawrence.  "  He  only  said  I  must  not  walk." 

"  I  haven't  heard  yet,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "  what  you 
would  like  to  have  to  eat." 

"I  don't  wish  to  give  the  slightest  trouble,"  an 
swered  Lawrence.  "  What  do  you  generally  give  peo 
ple  in  such  scrapes  as  this?  Tea  and  toast? " 

Annie  laughed.  "Nonsense,"  said  she.  "What 
you  want  is  the  best  meal  you  can  get.  Aunt  said  if 
there  was  anything  you  particularly  liked  she  would 
have  it  made  for  you." 

"Do  not  think  of  such  a  thing,"  said  Lawrence. 
"  Give  me  just  what  the  family  has." 

229 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

""Would  you  like  Miss  March  to  bring  it  out  to 
you?"  she  asked. 

"  The  word  cruel  cannot  express  your  disposition," 
said  Lawrence.  "  I  pity  Mr.  Null." 

"  Poor  man,"  said  she  j  "  but  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  for  you  if  you  could  keep  your  mind  as  quiet 
as  his  is."  And  with  that  she  went  into  the  house. 

After  dinner,  Miss  March  did  come  out  to  inquire 
into  Mr.  Croft's  condition,  but  she  was  accompanied  by 
Mrs.  Keswick.  Lawrence  invited  the  ladies  to  come 
in  and  be  seated ;  but  Roberta  stood  on  the  grass  in 
front  of  the  door,  as  Miss  Annie  had  done,  while  Mrs. 
Keswick  entered  the  room,  looked  into  the  ice-water 
pitcher,  and  examined  things  generally,  to  see  if 
Uncle  Isham  had  been  guilty  of  any  sins  of  omission. 

"  Do  you  feel  quite  at  ease  now  f  "  said  Miss  March. 

"  My  ankle  doesn't  trouble  me,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but 
I  never  felt  so  uncomfortable  and  dissatisfied  in  my 
life."  And  with  these  latter  words  he  gave  the  lady 
a  look  which  was  intended  to  be,  and  which  probably 
was,  full  of  meaning  to  her. 

"Wouldn't  you  like  some  books?"  said  Mrs.  Kes 
wick,  now  appearing  from  the  back  of  the  room. 
"You  haven't  anything  to  read.  There  are  plenty 
of  books  in  the  house,  but  they  are  all  old." 

"I  think  those  are  the  most  delightful  of  books," 
said  Miss  March.  "I  have  been  looking  over  the 
volumes  on  your  shelves,  Mrs.  Keswick.  I  am  sure 
there  are  a  good  many  of  them  Mr.  Croft  would  like 
to  read,  even  if  he  has  read  them  before.  There  are 
lots  of  queer  old-time  histories  and  biographies,  and 
sets  of  bound  magazines,  some  of  them  over  a  hun 
dred  years  old.  Would  you  like  me  to  select  some 

230 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

for  you,  Mr.  Croft  $  Or  shall  I  write  some  of  the 
titles  on  a  slip  of  paper,  and  let  you  select  for  your 
self?" 

"I  shall  be  delighted,"  said  Lawrence,  "to  have 
you  make  a  choice  for  me  j  and  I  think  the  list 
would  be  the  better  plan,  because  books  would  be  so 
heavy  to  carry  about." 

"I  will  do  it  immediately,"  said  Miss  March,  and 
she  walked  rapidly  to  the  house. 

"  Now,  then,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick,  "  I'll  put  a  chair 
out  here  on  the  grass,  close  to  the  door.  It's  shady 
there,  and  I  should  think  it  would  be  pleasant  for 
both  of  you  if  she  would  sit  there  and  read  to  you 
out  of  those  books.  She  is  a  fine  woman,  that  Miss 
March— a  much  finer  woman  than  I  thought  she 
could  be,  before  I  knew  her.*' 

"  She  is,  indeed,"  said  Lawrence. 

"I  suppose  you  think  she  is  the  finest  woman  in 
the  world?  "  said  the  old  lady,  with  a  genial  grin. 

"  What  makes  you  suppose  so  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"Haven't  I  eyes?"  said  Mrs.  Keswick.  "But  you 
needn't  make  any  excuses.  You  have  made  an  ex 
cellent  choice,  and  I  hope  you  may  succeed  in  getting 
her.  Perhaps  you  have  succeeded  ?  "  she  added,  giv 
ing  Lawrence  an  earnest  look,  with  a  question  in  it. 

Lawrence  did  not  immediately  reply.  It  was  not 
in  his  nature  to  confide  his  affairs  to  other  people, 
and  yet  he  had  done  so  much  of  it,  of  late,  that  he 
did  not  see  why  he  should  make  an  exception  against 
Mrs.  Keswick,  who  was,  indeed,  the  only  person  who 
seemed  inclined  to  be  friendly  to  his  suit.  He  might 
as  well  let  her  know  how  matters  stood.  "No,"  he 
said,  "  I  have  not  yet  succeeded,  and  I  am  very  sorry 

231 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

that  this  accident  has  interfered  with  my  efforts  to 
do  so." 

"  Don't  let  it  interfere,"  said  the  old  lady,  her  eyes 
sparkling,  while  her  purple  sunbonnet  was  suddenly 
and  severely  bobbed.  "You  have  just  as  good  a 
chance  now  as  you  ever  had,  and  all  you  have  to  do 
is  to  make  the  most  of  it.  When  she  conies  out  here 
to  read  to  you,  you  can  talk  to  her  just  as  well  as  if 
you  were  in  the  woods  or  on  top  of  a  hill.  Kobody'll 
come  here  to  disturb  you ;  I'll  take  care  of  that." 

"You  are  very  kind,"  said  Lawrence,  somewhat 
wondering  at  her  enthusiasm. 

"I  intended  to  go  away  and  leave  her  here  with 
you,"  continued  Mrs.  Keswick,  "  if  I  could  find  a  good 
opportunity  to  do  so,  but  she  hit  on  the  best  plan 
herself.  And  now  I'll  be  off  and  leave  the  coast  clear. 
I  will  come  again  before  dark  and  put  some  more  of 
that  stuff  on  your  ankle.  If  you  want  anything,  ring 
this  bell,  and  if  Isham  doesn't  hear  you,  somebody  will 
call  him.  He  has  orders  to  keep  about  the  house." 

"  You  are  putting  me  under  very  great  obligations 
to  you,  madam,"  said  Lawrence. 

But  the  old  lady  did  not  stop  to  hear  any  thanks, 
and  hastened  to  clear  the  coast. 

Lawrence  had  to  wait  a  long  time  for  his  list  of 
books,  but  at  last  it  came  j  and,  much  to  his  surprise 
and  chagrin,  Mrs.  Null  brought  it.  "Miss  March 
asked  me  to  give  you  this,"  she  said,  "so  that  you 
can  pick  out  just  what  books  you  want." 

Lawrence  took  the  paper,  but  did  not  look  at  it. 
He  was  deeply  disappointed  and  hurt.  His  whole 
appearance  showed  it. 

"You  don't  seem  glad  to  get  it,"  said  Miss  Annie. 

232 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Lawrence  looked  at  her,  his  face  darkening.  "  Did 
you  persuade  Miss  March,"  he  said,  "to  stay  in  the 
house  and  let  you  bring  this  ?  " 

"  Now,  Mr.  Croft,"  said  the  young  lady,  a  very  de 
cided  flush  coming  into  her  face,  "that  is  going  too 
far.  You  have  no  right  to  accuse  me  of  such  a  thing. 
I  am  not  going  to  help  in  your  love-affairs,  but  I 
don't  intend  to  be  mean  about  it,  either.  Miss  March 
asked  me  to  bring  that  list,  and  at  first  I  wouldn't  do 
it,  for  I  knew,  just  as  well  as  I  know  anything,  that 
you  expected  her  to  come  to  you  with  it,  and  I  was 
very  sure  you  wanted  to  see  her  more  than  the  paper. 
I  refused  two  or  three  times,  but  she  said,  at  last, 
that  if  I  didn't  take  it  she'd  send  it  by  some  one  in 
the  house ;  so  I  just  picked  it  up  and  brought  it  right 
along.  I  don't  like  her  as  much  as  I  did." 

"Why  not?"  asked  Lawrence. 

"  You  needn't  accept  a  man  if  you  don't  want  him," 
said  Miss  Annie,  "  but  there  is  no  need  of  being  cruel 
to  him,  especially  when  he  is  laid  up.  If  she  didn't 
intend  to  come  out  to  you  again,  she  ought  not  to 
have  made  you  believe  so.  You  did  expect  her  to 
come,  didn't  you?  " 

"  Most  certainly,"  said  Lawrence,  in  rather  a  dole 
ful  tone. 

"  Yes,  and  there  is  the  chair  she  was  to  sit  in,"  said 
Miss  Annie,  "while  you  said  seven  words  about  the 
books  and  ten  thousand  about  the  way  your  heart 
was  throbbing.  I  see  Aunt  Keswick's  hand  in  that, 
as  plain  as  can  be.  I  don't  say  I'd  put  her  in  that 
chair  if  I  could  do  it,  but  I  certainly  am  sorry  sV> 
disappointed  you  so.  Would  you  like  to  have  any  of 
those  books?  If  you  would,  I'll  get  them  for  you." 

233 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"I  am  much  obliged,  Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence, 
"but  I  don't  think  I  care  for  any  books.  And  let  me 
say  that  I  am  very  sorry  for  the  way  I  spoke  to  you 
just  now." 

"  Oh,  don't  mention  that,"  said  she.  "  If  Fd  been 
in  your  place  I  should  have  been  mad  enough  to  say 
anything.  But  it's  no  use  to  sit  here  and  be  grumpy. 
You'd  better  let  me  go  and  get  you  a  book.  The 
'  Critical  Magazine '  for  1767  and  1768  is  on  that  list, 
and  I  know  there  are  lots  of  queer,  interesting  things 
in  it,  but  it  takes  a  good  while  to  hunt  them  out  from 
the  other  things  for  which  you  would  not  care  at  all. 
And  then,  there  are  all  the  'Spectators'  and  <Kam- 
blers/  and  <  The  World  Displayed '  in  eight  volumes, 
which,  from  what  I  saw  when  I  looked  through  it, 
seems  to  be  a  different  kind  of  world  from  the  one  I 
live  in;  and  there  are  others  that  you  will  see  on 
your  list.  But  there  is  one  book  which  I  have  been 
reading  lately,  which  I  think  you  will  find  odder  and 
funnier  than  any  of  the  rest.  It  is  the  l  Geographical 
Grammar,'  by  Mr.  Salmon.  Suppose  I  bring  you  that. 
It  is  a  description  of  the  whole  world,  written  more 
than  a  hundred  years  ago  by  an  Irish  gentleman  who, 
I  think,  never  went  anywhere." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Lawrence  j  "  I  shall  be  obliged 
to  you  if  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  bring  me  that 
one."  He  was  glad  for  her  to  go  away,  even  for  a 
little  time,  that  he  might  think.  The  smart  of  the 
disappointment  caused  by  the  non-appearance  of  Miss 
March  was  beginning  to  subside  a  little.  Looking  at 
it  more  quietly  and  reasonably,  he  could  see  that,  in 
her  position,  it  would  be  actually  unmaidenly  for  her 
to  come  to  him  by  herself.  It  was  altogether  another 

234 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

thing  for  this  other  girl,  and  therefore  perhaps  it  was 
quite  proper  to  send  her.  But,  in  spite  of  whatever 
reasonableness  there  might  have  been  in  it,  he  chafed 
under  this  propriety.  It  would  have  been  far  better, 
he  thought,  if  she  had  come  and  told  him  that  she 
could  not  possibly  accept  him,  and  that  nothing  more 
must  be  said  about  it.  But  then,  he  did  not  believe, 
if  she  had  given  him  time  to  say  the  words  he  wished 
to  say,  that  she  would  have  come  to  such  a  decision ; 
and  as  he  called  up  her  lovely  face  and  figure  as  it 
stood  framed  in  the  open  doorway,  with  a  background 
of  the  sunlit  arbor  and  fields,  the  gorgeous  distant 
foliage,  with  the  blue  sky  and  its  white  clouds  and 
circling  birds,  he  thought  of  the  rapture  and  ecstasy 
which  would  have  come  to  him  if  she  had  listened  to 
his  words  and  had  given  him  but  a  smile  of  encour 
agement. 

But  here  came  Mrs.  Null,  with  a  fat  brown  book  in 
her  hand.  "  One  of  the  funniest  things,"  she  said,  as 
she  came  to  the  door,  "is  Mr.  Salmon's  chapter  on 
paradoxes.  He  thinks  it  would  be  quite  improper  to 
issue  a  book  of  this  kind  without  alluding  to  geograph 
ical  paradoxes.  Listen  to  this  one."  And  then  she 
read  to  him  the  elucidation  of  the  apparent  paradox 
that  there  is  a  certain  place  in  this  world  where  the 
wind  always  blows  from  the  south ;  and  another  ex 
plaining  the  statement  that  in  certain  c?nnibal  islands 
the  people  eat  themselves.  "  There  is  something  he 
says  about  Virginia,"  said  she,  turning  over  the  pages, 
"  which  I  want  you  to  be  sure  to  read." 

"  Won't  you  sit  down,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and  read  to 
me  some  of  those  extracts!  You  know  just  where  to 
find  them." 

235 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"That  chair  wasn't  put  there  for  me,"  said  Miss 
Annie,  with  a  smile. 

"Nonsense,"  said  Lawrence.  "Won't  you  please 
sit  down?  I  ought  to  have  asked  you  before.  Per 
haps  it  is  too  cool  for  you  out  there." 

"  Oh,  not  at  all,"  said  she.  "  The  air  is  still  quite 
warm."  And  she  took  her  seat  on  the  chair,  which 
was  placed  close  to  the  door-step,  and  she  read  to  him 
some  of  the  surprising  and  interesting  facts  which  Mr. 
Salmon  had  heard,  in  a  Dublin  coffee-house,  about  Vir 
ginia  and  the  other  colonies,  and  also  some  of  those 
relating  to  the  kindly  way  in  which  slave-holders  in 
South  America,  when  they  killed  a  slave  to  feed  their 
hounds,  would  send  a  quarter  to  a  neighbor,  expecting 
some  day  to  receive  a  similar  favor  in  return.  "When 
they  had  laughed  over  these,  she  read  some  very  odd 
and  surprising  statements  about  southern  Europe,  and 
the  people  of  far-away  lands  j  and  so  she  went  on  from 
one  thing  to  another,  talking  a  good  deal  about  what 
she  had  read,  and  always  on  the  point  of  stopping  and 
giving  the  book  to  Lawrence,  until  the  short  autumnal 
afternoon  began  to  draw  to  its  close,  and  he  told  her 
that  it  was  growing  too  chilly  for  her  to  sit  out  on  the 
grass  any  longer. 

"  Very  well,"  said  she,  closing  the  book  and  handing 
it  to  him  j  "  you  can  read  the  rest  of  it  yourself ;  and  if 
you  want  any  other  books  on  the  list,  just  let  me  know 
by  Uncle  Isham,  and  I  will  send  them  to  you.  He  is 
coming  now  to  see  after  you.  I  wonder,"  she  said, 
stopping  for  a  moment  as  she  turned  to  leave,  "  if  Miss 
March  had  been  sitting  in  that  chair,  if  you  would  have 
had  the  heart  to  tell  her  to  go  away,  or  if  you  would 
have  let  her  sit  still  and  take  cold  I " 

236 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Lawrence  smiled,  but  very  slightly.  "That  sub 
ject,"  said  he,  "is  one  on  which  I  don't  joke." 

"  Goodness ! "  exclaimed  Miss  Annie,  clasping  her 
hands  and  gazing  with  an  air  of  comical  commisera 
tion  at  Mr.  Croft's  serious  face.  "I  should  think 
not ! "  And  away  she  went. 

Just  before  supper-time,  when  Lawrence's  door 
had  been  closed  and  his  lamp  lighted,  there  came  a 
knock,  and  Mrs.  Keswick  appeared.  "That  plan  of 
mine  didn't  work,"  she  said ;  "  but  I  will  bring  Miss 
March  out  here,  and  manage  it  so  that  she'll  have  to 
stay  till  I  come  back.  I  have  an  idea  about  that. 
All  that  you  have  to  do  is  to  be  ready  when  you  get 
your  chance." 

Lawrence  thanked  her,  and  assured  her  he  would 
be  very  glad  to  have  a  chance,  although  he  hoped— 
without  much  ground  for  it— that  Roberta  would  not 
see  through  the  old  lady's  schemes. 

Mrs.  Keswick  lotioned  and  rebandaged  the  sprained 
ankle,  and  then  she  said  :  "  I  think  it  would  be  pleas 
ant  if  we  were  all  to  come  out  here  after  supper  and 
have  a  game  of  whist.  I  used  to  play  whist,  and 
shouldn't  mind  taking  a  hand.  You  could  have  the 
table  drawn  up  to  your  chair,  and— let  me  see— yes, 
there  are  three  more  chairs.  It  won't  be  like  having 
her  alone  with  you,"  she  said,  with  the  cordial  grin 
in  which  she  sometimes  indulged,  "  but  you  will  have 
her  opposite  to  you  for  an  hour,  and  that  will  be 
something." 

Lawrence  approved  heartily  of  the  whist-party, 
and  assured  Mrs.  Keswick  that  she  was  his  guardian 
angel. 

"  Not  much  of  that,"  she  said  j  "  but  I  have  been 

237 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

told  often  enough  that  I'm  a  regular  old  match 
maker,  and  I  expect  I  am." 

"If  you  make  this  match,"  said  Lawrence,  "you 
will  have  my  eternal  gratitude." 

The  supper  sent  out  to  Lawrence  was  a  very  good 
one,  and  the  anticipation  of  what  was  to  follow  made 
him  enjoy  it  still  more ;  for  his  passion  had  now  reached 
such  a  point  that  even  to  look  at  his  love,  although  he 
could  only  speak  to  her  of  trumps  and  of  tricks,  would 
be  a  refreshing  solace  which  would  go  down  deep  into 
his  thirsty  soul. 

But  bedtime  and  old  Isham  came,  and  the  whist- 
players  came  not.  It  needed  no  one  to  tell  Lawrence 
whose  disinclination  it  was  that  had  prevented  their 
coming. 

"I  reckon,"  said  Uncle  Isham,  as  he  looked  in  at 
Letty's  cabin  on  his  way  to  his  own,  "  dat  dat  ar  Mister 
CroP  ain't  much  use7  to  gittin'  hisse'f  hurt.  All  de  time 
I  was  helpin'  him  go  to  bed  he  was  a-growlin*  like  de 
bery  debbil." 


238 


CHAPTER  XX 

ALTHOUGH  October  in  southern  Virginia  can  gen 
erally  be  counted  upon  as  a  very  charming  month,  it 
must  not  be  expected  that  her  face  will  wear  one  con 
tinuous  smile.  On  the  day  after  Lawrence  Croft's 
misadventure  the  sky  was  gray  with  low-hanging 
clouds,  there  was  a  disagreeable  wind  from  the  north 
east,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  the  slight  drizzle  of 
rain.  The  morning  was  so  cool  that  Lawrence  was 
obliged  to  keep  his  door  shut,  and  Uncle  Isham  had 
made  him  a  small  wood  fire  on  the  hearth.  As  he  sat 
before  this  fire,  after  breakfast,  his  foot  still  upon  a 
stool,  and  vigorously  puffed  at  a  cigar,  he  said  to  him 
self  that  it  mattered  very  little  to  him  whether  the  sun 
shone,  or  all  the  rains  of  heaven  descended,  so  long  as 
Roberta  March  would  not  come  out  to  him ;  and  that 
she  did  not  intend  to  come,  rain  or  shine,  was  just  as 
plain  as  the  marks  on  the  sides  of  the  fireplace,  prob 
ably  made  by  the  heels  of  Mr.  Junius  Keswick  during 
many  a  long,  reflective  smoke. 

On  second  thoughts,  however,  Lawrence  concluded 
that  a  rainy  day  was  worse  for  his  prospects  than  a 
bright  one.  If  the  sun  shone  and  everything  was 
fair,  Miss  March  might  come  across  the  grassy  yard, 
and  might  possibly  stop  before  his  open  door  to  bid 

239 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

him  good  morning,  and  to  tell  him  that  she  was  sorry 
that  a  headache  had  prevented  her  from  coming  to 
play  whist  the  evening  before.  But  this  last,  he  pres 
ently  admitted,  was  rather  too  much  to  expect,  for 
he  did  not  think  she  was  subject  to  headaches,  or  to 
making  excuses.  At  any  rate,  he  might  have  caught 
sight  of  her  ;  and  if  he  had,  he  certainly  would  have 
called  to  her,  and  would  have  had  his  say  with  her, 
even  had  she  persisted  in  standing  six  feet  from  the 
door-step.  But  now  this  dreary  day  had  shut  his  door 
and  put  an  interdict  upon  strolls  across  the  grass. 
Therefore  it  was  that  he  must  resign  any  opportunity, 
for  that  day  at  least,  of  soothing  the  harrowing  per 
turbations  of  his  passion  by  either  the  comforting 
warmth  of  hope,  or  by  the  deadening  frigidity  of  a 
consummated  despair.  This  last,  in  truth,  he  did  not 
expect ;  but  still,  if  it  came,  it  would  be  better  than 
perturbations.  They  must  be  soothed  at  any  cost. 
But  how  to  incur  this  cost  was  a  difficult  question 
altogether.  So,  puffing,  gazing  into  the  fire,  and 
knitting  his  brows,  he  sat  and  thought. 

As  a  good-looking  young  man,  as  a  well-dressed 
young  man,  as  an  educated  and  cultured  man,  as  a 
man  of  the  clubs  and  of  society,  and,  when  occasion 
required,  as  a  very  sensible  man  of  business,  Mr.  Croft 
might  be  looked  upon  as  essentially  a  commonplace 
personage,  and  in  our  walks  abroad  we  meet  a  great 
many  like  him.  But  there  dwelt  within  him  a  cer 
tain  disposition  which,  at  times,  removed  him  to  quite 
a  distance  from  the  arena  in  which  commonplace 
people  go  through  their  prescribed  performances. 
He  would  come  to  a  determination,  generally  quite 
suddenly,  to  attain  a  desired  end  in  his  own  way, 

240 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

without  any  reference  to  traditionary  or  conventional 
methods  j  and  the  more  original  and  startling  these 
plans,  the  better  he  liked  it. 

This  disposition  it  was  which  made  Lawrence  read 
with  so  much  interest  the  account  of  the  defeated 
general  who  made  the  cavalry  charge  into  the  camp 
of  his  victorious  enemy.  Defeat  had  been  his  all 
through  his  short  campaign,  and  it  now  seemed  that 
the  time  had  come  to  make  another  bold  effort  to  get 
the  better  of  his  bad  luck.  As  he  could  not  woo  Miss 
March  himself,  he  must  get  some  one  else  to  do  it  for 
him,  or,  if  not  actually  to  woo  the  lady,  to  get  her  at 
least  into  such  a  frame  of  mind  that  she  would  allow 
him  to  woo  her,  even  in  spite  of  his  present  disad 
vantages.  This  would  be  a  very  bold  stroke,  but 
Lawrence  put  a  good  deal  of  faith  in  it. 

If  Miss  March  were  properly  talked  to  by  one  of 
her  own  sex,  she  might  see,  as  perhaps  she  did  not 
now  see,  how  cruel  was  her  line  of  conduct  towards 
him,  and  might  be  persuaded  to  relent,  at  least  enough 
to  allow  his  voice  to  reach  her  ,•  and  that  was  all  he 
asked  for.  He  had  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the 
widow  Keswick  would  gladly  consent  to  carry  any 
message  he  chose  to  send  to  Miss  March,  and,  more 
than  that,  to  throw  all  the  force  of  her  peculiar  style 
of  persuasion  into  the  support  of  his  cause.  But  this, 
he  knew  very  well,  would  finish  the  affair,  and  not  at 
all  in  the  way  he  desired.  The  person  he  wanted  to 
act  as  his  envoy  was  Mrs.  Null.  To  be  sure,  she  had 
refused  to  act  for  him ;  but  he  thought  he  could  per 
suade  her.  She  was  quiet,  she  was  sensible,  and  could 
talk  very  gently  and  confidingly  when  she  chose  ;  she 
would  say  just  what  he  told  her  to  say,  and  if  a  con- 

241 


THE   LATE   MRS.  NULL 

tingency  demanded  that  she  should  add  anything,  she 
would  probably  do  it  very  prudently.  But  then,  it 
would  be  almost  as  difficult  to  communicate  with  her 
as  with  Miss  March. 

While  he  was  thus  thinking,  in  came  the  old  lady, 
very  cross.  "  You  didn't  get  any  rubber  of  whist  last 
night,  did  you?"  said  she,  without  salutatory  preface. 
"  But,  I  can  tell  you,  it  wasn't  my  fault,  I  did  all  that 
I  could,  and  more  than  I  ought,  to  make  her  come ; 
but  she  just  put  her  foot  down  and  wouldn't  stir  an 
inch,  and  at  last  I  got  mad  and  went  to  bed.  I  don't 
know  whether  she  saw  it  or  not,  but  I  was  as  mad  as 
hops;  and  I  am  that  way  yet.  I  had  a  plan  that 
would  have  given  you  a  chance  to  talk  to  her,  but 
that  ain't  any  good,  now  that  it  is  raining.  Let  me 
look  at  your  ankle ;  I  hope  that  is  getting  along  all 
right,  anyway." 

While  the  old  lady  was  engaged  in  ministering  to 
his  needs,  he  told  her  of  his  plan.  He  said  he  wished 
to  send  a  message  to  Miss  March  by  some  one,  and  if 
he  could  get  the  message  properly  delivered,  it  would 
help  him  very  much. 

"I'll  take  it,"  said  she,  looking  up  suddenly  from 
the  piece  of  soft  old  linen  she  was  folding ;  "  I'll  go  to 
her  this  very  minute,  and  tell  her  just  what  you  want 
me  to." 

"  Mrs.  Keswick,"  said  Lawrence,  "  you  are  as  kind 
as  you  can  possibly  be,  but  I  do  not  think  it  would  be 
right  for  you  to  go  on  an  errand  like  this.  Miss  March 
might  not  receive  you  well,  and  that  would  annoy  me 
very  much.  And  besides,  to  speak  frankly,  you  have 
taken  up  my  cause  so  warmly,  and  have  been  such  a 
good  friend  to  me,  that  I  am  afraid  your  earnest  de- 

242 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

sire  to  assist  me  might  perhaps  carry  you  a  little  too 
far.  Please  do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  don't  mean 
that  you  would  say  anything  imprudent,  but  as  you  are 
kind  enough  to  say  that  you  really  desire  this  match, 
it  will  be  very  natural  for  you  to  show  your  interest 
in  it  to  a  degree  that  would  arouse  Miss  March's 
opposition." 

"  Yes,  I  see,"  said  the  old  lady,  reflectively ;  "  she'd 
suspect  what  was  at  the  bottom  of  my  interest.  She's 
a  sharp  one ;  I've  found  that  out.  I  reckon  it  will 
be  better  for  me  not  to  meddle  with  her.  I  came 
very  near  quarrelling  with  her  last  night,  and  that 
wouldn't  do  at  all." 

"You  see,  madam,"  said  Lawrence,  well  satisfied 
that  he  had  succeeded  in  warding  off  the  old  lady's 
offer  without  offending  her,  "  that  I  do  not  want  any 
one  to  go  to  Miss  March  and  make  a  proposal  for  me. 
I  could  do  that  in  a  letter.  But  I  very  much  object 
to  a  letter.  In  fact,  it  wouldn't  do  at  all.  All  I  wish 
is  that  some  one,  by  the  exercise  of  a  little  female 
diplomacy,  should  induce  her  to  let  me  speak  to  her. 
Now,  I  think  that  Mrs.  Null  might  do  this  very 
well." 

"That  is  so,"  said  the  old  lady,  who,  having  now 
finished  her  bandaging,  was  seated  on  a  chair  by  the 
fireplace.  "  My  niece  is  smart  and  quick,  and  could 
do  this  thing  for  you  just  as  well  as  not.  But  she  has 
her  quips  and  her  cranks,  like  the  rest  of  us.  I  called 
her  out  of  the  room  last  night  to  know  why  she  didn't 
back  me  up  better  about  the  whist-party,  and  she 
said  she  couldn't  see  why  a  gentleman  who  hadn't 
been  confined  to  the  house  for  quite  a  whole  day 
should  be  so  desperately  lonely  that  people  must  go 

243 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

to  his  room  to  play  whist  with  him.  It  seemed  to  me 
exactly  as  if  she  thought  that  Mr.  Null  wouldn't  like 
it.  Mr.  Null,  indeed !  As  if  his  wishes  and  desires 
were  to  be  considered  in  my  house !  I  never  men 
tion  that  man  now,  and  Annie  does  not  speak  of  him 
either.  What  I  want  is  that  he  shall  stay  away  just 
as  long  as  he  will ;  and  if  he  will  only  stay  away  long 
enough  to  make  his  absence  what  the  law  calls  deser 
tion,  I'll  have  those  two  divorced  before  they  know 
it.  Can  you  tell  me,  sir,  how  long  a  man  must  stay 
away  from  his  wife  before  he  can  be  legally  charged 
with  desertion?" 

"No,  madam,  I  cannot,"  said  Lawrence.  "The 
laws,  I  believe,  differ  in  the  various  States." 

"Well,  I'm  going  to  make  it  my  business  to  find 
out  all  about  it,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick.  "  Mr.  Brandon 
has  promised  to  attend  to  this  matter  for  me,  and  I 
must  write  to  him  to  know  what  he  has  been  doing. 
Well,  Mrs.  Null  and  Miss  March  seem  to  be  very  good 
friends,  and  I  dare  say  my  niece  could  manage  things 
so  as  to  give  you  the  chance  you  want.  I'll  go  to  the 
house  now,  and  send  her  over  to  you,  so  that  you  can 
tell  her  what  you  want  her  to  say  or  do." 

"Do  you  think  she  will  come,  madam?"  asked 
Lawrence. 

The  old  lady  rose  to  her  feet,  and  knitted  her  brows 
until  something  like  a  perpendicular  mouth  appeared 
on  her  forehead.  "No,"  said  she,  "now  I  come  to 
think  of  it,  I  don't  believe  she  will.  In  fact,  I  know 
she  won't.  Bother  take  it  all,  sir!  What  these 
young  women  want  is  a  good  whipping.  Nothing 
else  will  ever  bring  them  to  their  senses.  What  pos 
sible  difference  could  it  make  to  Mr.  Null  whether 

244 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

she  came  to  you  and  took  a  message  for  you,  or 
whether  she  didn't  come— especially  in  a  case  like 
this,  when  you  can't  walk  or  go  to  anybody?" 

"I  don't  think  it  ought  to  make  any  difference 
whatever,"  said  Lawrence.  "  In  fact,  I  don't  believe 
it  would." 

"  It's  no  use  talking  about  it,  Mr.  Croft,"  said  the 
old  lady,  moving  towards  the  door.  "  I  can  go  to  my 
niece  and  talk  to  her,  but  the  first  thing  I'd  know  I'd 
blaze  out  at  her,  and  then,  as  like  as  not,  she'd  blaze 
back  again,  and  then  the  next  thing  would  be  that 
she'd  pack  up  her  things  and  go  off  to  hunt  up  her 
fertilizer  agent.  And  that  mustn't  be.  I  don't  want 
to  get  myself  in  any  snarls  just  now.  There  is  noth 
ing  for  you  to  do,  Mr.  Croft,  but  to  wait  till  it  clears 
off,  so  that  dainty  young  woman  can  come  out  of 
doors ;  and  then  I  think  I  can  manage  it  so  that  you 
ean  get  a  chance  to  speak  to  her." 

"I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  said  Lawrence. 
41 1  suppose  I  must  wait." 

"  I'll  see  that  Isham  brings  you  a  lot  of  dry  hick 
ory,  so  that  you  can  have  a  cheerful  fire,  even  if  you 
can't  have  cheerful  company,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick,  as 
she  closed  the  door  after  her. 

Lawrence  looked  through  the  window  at  the  sky, 
which  gave  no  promise  of  clearing.  And  then  he 
gazed  into  the  fire,  and  considered  his  case.  He  had 
spent  a  large  portion  of  his  life  in  considering  his 
case,  and  therefore  the  operation  was  a  familiar  one 
to  him.  This  time  the  case  was  not  a  satisfactory 
one.  Everything  in  this  love-affair  with  Miss  March 
had  gone  on  in  a  manner  in  which  he  had  not  in 
tended,  and  of  which  he  greatly  disapproved.  No 

245 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

one  in  the  world  could  have  planned  the  affair  more 
prudently  than  he  had  planned  it.  He  had  been  so 
careful  not  to  do  anything  rash  that  he  had,  at  first, 
concealed,  even  from  the  lady  herself,  the  fact  that  he 
was  in  love  with  her,  and  nothing  could  be  farther 
from  his  thoughts  and  desires  than  that  any  one  else 
should  know  of  it,  And  yet,  how  had  it  all  turned 
out?  He  had  taken  into  his  confidence  Mr.  Junius 
Keswick,  Mr.  Brandon,  old  Mrs.  Keswick,  Mrs.  Null, 
as  she  wished  to  be  called,  and,  almost  lastly,  the  lady 
herself.  "  If  I  should  lay  bare  my  heart  to  the  colored 
man  Isham,"  he  said  to  himself,  "and  the  old  cen 
tenarian  in  the  cabin  down  there,  I  believe  there 
would  be  no  one  else  to  tell.  Oh,  yes  j  there  is  Candy 
and  the  anti-detective.  By  rights,  they  ought  to 
know."  He  did  not  include  the  good  little  Peggy  in 
this  category,  because  he  was  not  aware  that  there 
was  such  a  person. 

After  about  an  hour  of  these  doleful  cogitations,  he 
again  turned  to  look  out  of  his  front  window,  which 
commanded  a  view  of  the  larger  house,  when  he  saw, 
coming  down  the  steps  of  the  porch,  a  not  very  tall 
figure,  wrapped  in  a  waterproof  cloak,  with  the  hood 
drawn  over  its  head.  He  did  not  see  the  face  of  the 
figure,  but  he  thought  from  the  light  way  in  which  it 
moved  that  it  was  Mrs.  Null ;  and  when  it  stepped 
upon  the  grass  and  turned  its  head,  he  saw  that  he 
was  right. 

"  Can  her  aunt  have  induced  her  to  come  to  me  ?  " 
was  Lawrence's  first  thought.  But  his  second  was 
very  different,  for  she  began  to  walk  towards  the  large 
gate  which  led  out  of  the  yard.  Instantly  Lawrence 
rose,  and  hopped  on  one  foot  to  the  window,  where 

246 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

he  tapped  loudly  on  the  glass.  The  lady  turned,  and 
then  he  threw  up  the  sash. 

"Won't  you  step  here,  please?"  he  called  out. 

Without  answering,  she  immediately  came  over  the 
wet  grass  to  the  window. 

"  I  have  something  to  say  to  you,"  he  said,  "  and  I 
don't  want  to  keep  you  standing  in  the  rain.  Won't 
you  come  inside  for  a  few  minutes  ?  " 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  she.  "  I  don't  mind  a  slight 
rain  like  this.  I  have  lived  so  long  in  the  city  that  I 
can't  imagine  how  country  people  can  bear  to  shut 
themselves  in  when  it  happens  to  be  a  little  wet.  I 
can't  stand  it,  and  I  am  going  out  for  a  walk." 

"It  is  a  very  sensible  thing  to  do,"  said  Lawrence, 
"and  I  wish  I  could  go  with  you  and  have  a  good 
long  talk." 

"  What  about  ? "  said  she. 

"  About  Miss  March." 

"  Well,  I  am  rather  tired  of  that  subject,"  she  said, 
"and  so  I  reckon  it  is  just  as  well  that  you  should  stay 
here  by  your  fire,— I  see  you  have  one  there,— and  that 
I  should  take  my  walk  by  myself." 

"Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "I  want  to  implore 
you  to  do  a  favor  for  me.  I  don't  see  how  it  can  be 
disagreeable  to  you,  and  I  am  sure  it  will  confer  the 
greatest  possible  obligation  upon  me." 

"  What  is  it?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  want  you  to  go  to  Miss  March,  and  endeavor,  in 
some  way,— you  will  know  how  better  than  I  can  tell 
you,— to  induce  her  to  let  me  have  a  few  words  with 
her.  If  it  is  only  here  at  this  open  window  it  will 
do." 

Mrs.  Null  laughed.     "  Imagine,"  she  said,  "  a  woman 

247 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

putting  on  a  waterproof  and  overshoes,  and  coming 
out  in  the  rain,  to  stand  with  an  umbrella  over  her 
head,  to  be  proposed  to  !  That  would  be  the  funniest 
proceeding  I  ever  heard  of ! " 

Lawrence  could  not  help  smiling,  though  he  was 
not  in  the  mood  for  it.  "It  may  seem  amusing  to 
you,"  he  said,  "but  I  am  very  much  in  earnest.  I 
am  in  constant  fear  that  she  will  go  away  while  I  am 
confined  to  this  house.  Do  you  know  how  long  she 
intends  to  stay?" 

"  She  has  not  told  me,"  was  the  answer. 

"  If  you  will  carry  it,"  he  said,  "  I  will  give  you  a 
message  for  her." 

"Why  don't  you  write  it?"  said  Miss  Annie. 

"I  don't  want  to  write  anything,"  he  said.  "I 
should  not  know  how  it  had  been  received,  nor  would 
it  be  likely  to  get  me  any  satisfaction.  I  want  a  live, 
sympathetic  medium,  such  as  you  are.  Won't  you 
do  this  favor  for  me? " 

"No,  I  won't,"  said  Miss  Annie,  her  very  decided 
tone  appearing  to  give  a  shade  of  paleness  to  her  fea 
tures.  "How  often  must  I  tell  you  that  I  will  not 
help  you  in  this  thing?" 

"  I  would  not  ask  you,"  said  Lawrence,  "  if  I  could 
help  myself." 

"  It  is  not  right  that  you  should  ask  me  any  more," 
she  said.  "  I  am  not  in  favor  of  your  coming  here  to 
court  Miss  March  while  my  cousin  is  away,  and  I 
should  feel  like  a  traitor  if  I  helped  you  at  all,  espe 
cially  if  I  were  to  carry  messages  to  her.  Of  course 
I  am  very  sorry  for  you,  shut  up  here,  and  I  will  do 
anything  I  can  to  make  you  more  comfortable  and 
contented  5  but  what  you  ask  is  too  hard  for  me." 

248 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

And  as  she  said  this  a  little  air  of  trouble  came  into 
the  large  eyes  with  which  she  was  steadfastly  regard 
ing  him.  "  I  don't  want  to  seem  unkind  to  you,  and 
I  wish  you  would  ask  me  something  that  I  can  do  for 
you.  I'll  walk  down  to  Hewlett's  and  get  you  any 
thing  you  may  like  to  have.  I'll  bring  you  a  lot  of 
novels  which  I  found  in  the  house,  and  which  I  ex 
pect,  anyway,  you  will  like  better  than  those  old- 
time  books.  And  I'll  cook  you  anything  that  is  in 
the  cook-book.  But  I  really  cannot  go  wooing  for 
you,  and  if  you  ask  me  to  do  that,  every  time  I  come 
near  you,  I  really  must—" 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Null,"  interrupted  Lawrence,  "I 
promise  not  to  say  any  more  to  you  on  this  subject. 
I  see  it  is  distasteful  to  you,  and  I  beg  your  pardon 
for  having  mentioned  it  so  often.  You  have  been 
very  kind  to  me  indeed,  and  I  should  be  exceedingly 
sorry  to  do  anything  to  offend  you.  It  would  be  very 
bad  for  me  to  lose  one  of  my  friends,  now  that  I  am 
shut  up  in  this  box  and  feel  so  very  dependent." 

"  Oh,  indeed ! "  said  Miss  Annie.  "  But  I  suppose  if 
you  were  able  to  step  around  as  you  used  to  do,  it 
wouldn't  matter  whether  you  offended  me  or  not." 

"  Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "  you  know  I  did  not 
mean  anything  like  that.  Do  you  intend  to  be  angry 
with  me,  no  matter  what  I  say?" 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  she  answered,  with  a  little  smile 
that  brought  back  to  her  face  that  warm  brightness 
which  had  grown  upon  it  since  she  had  come  down 
here.  "I  haven't  the  least  wish  in  the  world  to  be 
angry  with  you,  and  I  promise  you  I  won't  be,  pro 
vided  you'll  stop  everlastingly  asking  me  to  go  about 
helping  you  to  make  love  to  people." 

249 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Lawrence  laughed.  "Very  good,"  said  he.  "1 
have  promised  to  ask  nothing  more  of  that  sort.  Let 
us  shake  hands  on  it." 

He  stretched  his  hand  from  the  window,  and  Miss 
Annie  withdrew  from  the  folds  of  her  waterproof  a 
very  soft  and  white  little  hand,  and  put  it  into  his. 
"And  now  I  must  be  off,"  she  said.  "Are  you  cer 
tain  you  don't  want  anything  from  the  store  at  How- 
lett's?" 

"  Surely  you  are  not  going  as  far  as  that,"  he  said. 

"Not  if  you  don't  want  anything,"  she  answered. 
"Have  you  tobacco  enough  to  last  through  your  im 
prisonment?  They  keep  it." 

"Now,  miss,"  said  Lawrence,  "do  you  want  to 
make  me  angry  by  supposing  I  would  smoke  any 
tobacco  that  they  sell  in  that  country  store?" 

"It  ought  to  be  better  than  any  other,"  said  Miss 
Annie.  "They  grow  it  in  the  fields  all  about  here, 
and  the  storekeepers  can  get  it  perfectly  fresh  and 
pure,  and  a  great  deal  better  for  you,  no  doubt,  than 
the  stuff  they  manufacture  in  the  cities." 

"  When  you  learn  to  smoke,"  said  Lawrence,  "  your 
opinion  concerning  tobacco  will  be  more  valuable." 

"  Thank  you,"  she  said ;  "  and  I  will  wait  till  then 
before  I  give  you  any  more  of  it.  Good  morning." 
And  away  she  went. 

Lawrence  shut  down  the  window,  and  hopped  back 
to  the  fire.  "  There  is  my  last  chance  gone,"  said  he 
to  himself.  "I  suppose  I  may  as  well  take  old  Mrs. 
Keswick's  advice,  and  wait  for  fair  weather.  But, 
even  then,  who  can  say  what  sort  of  sky  Eoberta 
March  will  show?"  And  not  being  able  to  answer 
this  question,  he  put  two  fresh  sticks  on  the  fire,  and 

250 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

then  sedately  sat  and  watched  their  gradual  annihila 
tion. 

As  for  Miss  Annie,  she  took  her  walk,  and  stepped 
along  the  road  as  lightly  and  blithely  as  if  the  skies 
had  been  blue  and  the  sun  shining  j  and  almost  before 
she  knew  it,  she  had  reached  the  store  at  Hewlett's. 
Ascending  the  high  steps  to  the  porch,  quite  deserted 
on  this  damp,  unpleasant  morning,  she  entered  the 
store,  the  proprietor  of  which  immediately  jumped 
up  from  the  mackerel-kit  at  the  extreme  end  of  the 
room,  where  he  had  been  sitting  in  converse  with 
some  of  his  neighbors,  and  hurried  behind  the  counter. 

"  Have  you  any  tea,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "  better  than 
the  kind  which  you  usually  sell  to  Mrs.  Keswick  ?  " 

"No,  ma'am,"  said  he.  "We  send  her  the  very 
best  tea  we  have." 

"I  am  not  finding  fault  with  it,"  she  said,  "but  I 
thought  you  might  have  some  extra  kind,  more  ex 
pensive  than  people  usually  buy  for  common  use." 

"  No,  ma'am,"  said  he ;  "  there  is  fancy  teas  of  that 
kind,  but  you'd  have  to  send  to  Philadelphia  or  New 
York  for  them." 

" How  long  would  that  take? "  she  asked. 

"  I  reckon  it  would  be  four  or  five  days  before  you'd 
get  it,  ma'am,"  said  the  storekeeper. 

"  I  am  afraid,"  said  Miss  Annie,  looking  reflectively 
along  the  counter,  "that  that  would  be  too  long." 
And  then  she  turned  to  go,  but  suddenly  stopped. 
"Have  you  any  guava  jelly?"  she  asked. 

The  man  smiled.  "  "We  don't  have  no  call  for  any 
thing  as  fancy  as  that,  ma'am,"  he  said.  "Is  there 
anything  else  f  " 

"Not  to-day,"  answered  Miss  Annie,  after  throwing 
251 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

a  despairing  glance  upon  the  rolls  of  calicoes,  the 
coils  of  clothes-lines,  the  battered  tin  boxes  of  tea  and 
sugar,  the  dusty  and  chimneyless  kerosene  lamps,  and 
the  long  rows  of  canned  goods  with  their  gaudy 
labels,*  and  then  she  departed. 

When  she  had  gone,  the  storekeeper  returned  to 
his  seat  on  the  mackerel-kit,  and  was  accosted  by  a 
pensive  neighbor  in  high  boots,  who  sat  upon  the 
upturned  end  of  a  case  of  brogans.  "You  didn't 
make  no  sale  that  time,  Peckett,"  said  he. 

"  No,"  said  the  storekeeper,  "  her  idees  is  a  little 
too  fancy  for  our  stock  of  goods." 

"Whar's  her  husband,  anyway?"  asked  a  stout, 
elderly  man  in  linen  trousers  and  faded  alpaca  coat, 
who  was  seated  on  two  boxes  of  pearl  starch,  one  on 
top  of  the  other.  "  I've  heard  that  he  was  a  member 
of  the  legislator'.  Is  that  so  ?  " 

"  He's  not  that,  you  can  take  my  word  for  it,"  said 
Tom  Peckett.  "  Old  Miss  Keswick  give  me  to  under 
stand  that  he  was  in  the  fertilizing  business." 

"  That  ought  to  be  a  good  thing  for  the  old  lady," 
said  the  man  on  the  starch-boxes.  "  She'll  git  a  dis 
count  off  her  gwarner." 

"  I  never  did  see,"  said  the  pensive  neighbor  on  the 
brogan-case,  "  how  such  things  do  git  twisted.  It  was 
only  yesterday  that  I  met  a  man  at  Tyson's  Mill, 
who'd  just  come  over  from  the  Valley,  and  he  said 
he'd  seen  this  Mr.  Noles  over  thar.  He's  a  hoss- 
doctor,  and  he's  going  up  through  all  the  farms  along 
thar." 

"I  reckon  when  he  gits  up  as  fur  as  he  wants  to 
go,"  said  the  man  on  the  starch-boxes,  "he'll  come 
here  and  settle  fur  a  while." 

252 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  That  won't  be  so  much  help  to  the  old  lady/7  said 
the  storekeeper,  "  for  it  wouldn't  pay  to  keep  a  nefly- 
in-law  just  to  doctor  one  sorrel  horse  and  a  pa'r  o' 
oxen." 

"  I  reckon  his  wife  must  be  'spectin'  him,"  said  the 
man  on  the  brogan-case,  "  from  her  comin'  after  fancy 
vittles." 

"  If  he  do  come,"  said  the  stout,  elderly  neighbor, 
"I  wish  you'd  let  me  know,  Tom  Peckett,  fur  my 
black  mar'  has  got  a  hitch  in  her  shoulder  I  can't 
understand,  and  I'd  like  him  to  look  at  her." 

The  storekeeper  smiled  at  the  pensive  man,  and 
the  pensive  man  smiled  back  at  the  storekeeper. 
"You  needn't  trouble  yourself  about  that  young 
woman's  husband,"  said  Mr.  Peckett.  "There'll  be 
a  horse-doctor  coming  along  afore  you  know  it,  and 
he'll  attend  to  that  old  mar'  of  yourn  without  chargin* 
you  a  cent." 


253 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  second  afternoon  of  Lawrence  Croft's  confine 
ment  in  the  little  building  in  Mrs.  Keswick's  yard 
passed  drearily  enough.  The  sky  retained  its  sombre 
covering  of  clouds,  and  the  rain  came  down  in  a 
melancholy,  capricious  way,  as  if  it  were  tears  shed 
by  a  child  who  was  crying  because  it  was  bad.  The 
monotony  of  the  slowly  moving  hours  was  broken 
only  by  a  very  brief  visit  from  the  old  lady,  who  was 
going  somewhere  in  the  covered  spring-wagon,  and 
who  looked  in,  before  she  started,  to  see  if  her  patient 
wanted  anything,  and  by  the  arrival  of  a  bundle  of 
old  novels  sent  by  Mrs.  Null.  These  books  Lawrence 
looked  over  with  indifferent  interest,  hoping  to  find 
one  among  them  that  was  not  a  love-story ;  but  he 
was  disappointed.  They  were  all  based  upon,  and 
most  of  them  permeated  with  the  tender  passion, 
and  Lawrence  was  not  in  the  mood  for  reading  about 
that  sort  of  thing.  A  person  afflicted  with  a  disease 
is  not  apt  to  find  agreeable  occupation  in  reading  hos 
pital  reports  upon  his  particular  ailment. 

The  novels  were  put  aside,  and  although  Lawrence 
felt  that  he  had  smoked  almost  too  much  during  that 
day,  he  was  about  to  light  another  cigar,  when  he 

254 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

heard  a  carriage  drive  into  the  yard.  Turning  to  the 
window,  he  saw  a  barouche,  evidently  a  hired  one, 
drawn  by  a  pair  of  horses,  very  lean  and  bony,  but 
with  their  heads  reined  up  so  high  that  they  had  an 
appearance  of  considerable  spirit,  and  driven  by  a 
colored  man,  sitting  upon  a  very  elevated  seat,  with 
a  jaunty  air  and  a  well-worn  whip.  The  carriage 
drove  over  the  grass  to  the  front  of  the  house,— there 
was  no  roadway  in  the  yard,  the  short,  crisp,  tough 
grass  having  long  resisted  the  occasional  action  of 
wheels  and  hoofc,— and  there  stopping,  a  gentleman 
with  a  valise  got  out.  He  paid  the  driver,  who  im 
mediately  turned  the  vehicle  about  and  drove  away. 
The  gentleman  put  his  foot  upon  the  bottom  step  as 
if  he  were  about  to  ascend,  and  then,  apparently 
changing  his  mind,  he  picked  up  his  valise  and  came 
directly  towards  the  office,  drawing  a  key  from  his 
pocket  as  he  walked.  It  was  Junius  Keswick,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  his  key  was  heard  in  the  lock.  As 
it  was  not  locked,  the  key  merely  rattled,  and  Law 
rence  called  out :  "  Come  in." 

The  door  opened,  and  Junius  looked  in,  evidently 
surprised.  "I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  he,  "I  didn't 
know  you  were  in  here." 

"Please  walk  in,"  said  Lawrence.  "I  know  I  am 
occupying  your  room,  and  it  is  I  who  should  ask  your 
pardon.  But  you  see  the  reason  why  it  was  thought 
well  that  I  should  not  have  stairs  to  ascend."  And 
he  pointed  to  his  bandaged  foot. 

"  Have  you  hurt  yourself?  "  asked  Junius,  with  an 
air  of  concern. 

And  then  Lawrence  gave  an  account  of  his  accident, 
expressing  at  the  same  time  his  regret  that  he  found 

255 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

himself  occupying  the  room  which  belonged  to  the 
other. 

"Oh,  don't  mention  that,"  said  Junius,  who  had 
taken  a  seat  near  the  window.  "There  are  rooms 
enough  in  the  house,  and  I  shall  be  perfectly  comfort 
able.  It  was  quite  right  in  my  aunt  to  have  you 
brought  in  here,  and  I  should  have  insisted  upon  it 
myself  if  I  had  been  at  home.  I  expected  to  be 
away  for  a  week  or  more,  but  I  have  now  come  back 
on  account  of  your  letter." 

"Does  that  need  explanation?"  asked  Lawrence. 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Junius.  "I  had  no  difficulty  in 
understanding  it,  although  I  must  say  that  it  sur 
prised  me.  But  I  came  because  I  am  not  satisfied 
with  the  condition  of  things  here,  and  I  wish  to  be 
on  the  spot.  I  do  not  understand  why  you  and  Miss 
March  should  be  invited  here  during  my  absence." 

"  That  I  do  not  understand  either,"  said  Lawrence, 
quickly,  "  and  I  wish  to  impress  it  on  your  mind,  Mr. 
Keswick,  that  when  I  came  here  I  not  only  expected 
to  find  you,  but  a  party  of  invited  guests.  I  will  say, 
however,  that  I  came  with  the  express  intention  of 
meeting  Miss  March  and  having  that  interview  with 
her  which  I  could  not  have  in  her  uncle's  house." 

"  I  was  not  entirely  correct,"  said  Junius,  "  when  I 
said  that  I  did  not  know  why  these  rather  peculiar 
arrangements  had  been  made.  My  aunt  is  a  very 
managing  person,  and  I  think  I  perceive  her  purpose 
in  this  piece  of  management." 

"She  is  opposed  to  a  marriage  between  you  and 
Miss  March?" 

"  Most  decidedly,"  said  Junius.  "  Has  she  told  you 
so!" 

256 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but  it  has  gradually  dawned 
upon  me  that  such  is  the  case.  I  believe  she  would 
be  glad  to  have  Miss  March  married  and  out  of  your 
way." 

Junius  made  no  answer  to  this  remark,  but  sat 
silent  for  a  few  moments.  Then  he  said :  "  Well, 
have  you  settled  it  with  Miss  March?" 

"  No,  I  have  not,"  said  Lawrence.  "  If  the  matter 
had  been  decided,  one  way  or  the  other,  I  should  not 
be  here.  I  have  no  right  to  trespass  on  your  aunt's 
hospitality,  and  I  should  have  departed  as  soon  as  I 
had  discovered  Miss  March's  sentiments  in  regard  to 
me.  But  I  have  not  been  able  to  settle  the  matter 
at  all.  I  had  one  opportunity  of  seeing  the  lady,  and 
that  was  not  a  satisfactory  interview.  Yesterday 
morning  I  made  another  attempt,  but  before  I  could 
get  to  her  I  sprained  my  ankle.  -And  here  I  am.  I 
cannot  go  to  her  and  of  course  she  will  not  come  to 
me.  You  cannot  imagine  how  I  chafe  under  this 
harassing  restraint." 

"  I  can  imagine  it  very  easily,"  said  Junius. 

"The  only  thing  I  have  to  hope  for,"  said  Law 
rence,  "is  that  to-morrow  may  be  a  fine  day,  and 
that  the  lady  may  come  outside  and  give  me  the 
chance  of  speaking  to  her  at  this  open  door." 

Junius  smiled  grimly.  "  It  appears  to  me,"  he  said, 
"as  if  it  were  likely  to  rain  for  several  days.  But 
now  I  must  go  into  the  house  and  see  the  family.  I 
hope  you  believe  me,  sir,  when  I  say  I  am  sorry  to 
find  you  in  your  present  predicament." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  smiling,  although  he  did  not 
feel  at  all  gay,  "  for  otherwise  I  might  have  been 
finally  rejected  and  far  away." 

257 


THE  LATE   MRS.  NULL 

"  If  you  had  been  rejected,"  said  Junius,  "  I  should 
have  been  very  glad  indeed  to  have  you  stay  with  us." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Lawrence. 

"  I  will  look  in  upon  you  again,"  said  Junius,  as  he 
left  the  room. 

Lawrence's  mind,  which  had  been  in  a  very  un 
pleasant  state  of  troubled  restiveness  for  some  days, 
was  now  thrown  into  a  sad  turmoil  by  this  arrival  of 
Junius  Keswick.  As  he  saw  that  tall  and  good-look 
ing  young  man  going  up  the  steps  of  the  house  porch 
with  his  valise  in  his  hand,  he  clincned  both  his  fists 
as  they  rested  on  the  arm  of  his  chair,  and  objurgated 
the  anti-detective. 

"  If  it  had  not  been  for  that  rascal,"  he  said  to  him 
self,  "  I  should  not  have  written  to  Keswick,  and  he 
would  not  have  thought  of  coming  back  at  this  un 
timely  moment.  The  only  advantage  I  had  was  a 
clear  coast,  and  now  that  is  gone.  Of  course  Keswick 
was  frightened  when  he  found  I  was  staying  in  the 
same  house  with  Roberta  March,  and  hurried  back 
to  attend  to  his  own  interests.  The  first  thing  he 
will  do  now  will  be  to  propose  to  her  himself  j  and, 
as  they  have  been  engaged  once,  it  is  as  like  as  not 
she  will  take  him  again.  If  I  could  use  this  foot,  I 
would  go  into  the  house  this  minute,  and  have  the 
first  word  with  her."  At  this  he  rose  to  his  feet  and 
made  a  step  with  his  sprained  ankle ;  but  the  sudden 
pain  occasioned  by  this  action  caused  him  to  sit  down 
again  with  a  groan.  Lawrence  Croft  was  not  a  man 
to  do  himself  a  physical  injury  which  might  be  per 
manent,  if  such  doing  could  possibly  be  avoided, 
and  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  trying  to  go  into  the 
house. 

258 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"I  tell  you  what  it  is,  Letty,"  said  Uncle  Isham, 
when  he  returned  to  the  kitchen  after  having  carried 
Lawrence's  supper  to  him,  "  dat  ar  Mister  Croft  in  de 
office  is  a-gittin'  wus  an7  wus  in  he  min'  ebery  day.  I 
nebber  seed  a  man  more  pow'ful  glowerin'  dan  he  is 
dis  ebenin'." 

"  I  reckon  he  joints  is  healin'  up,"  said  Letty.  "  Dey 
tells  me  dat  de  healin'  pains  mos'  generally  runs  into 
de  min'." 

About  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  Junius  Keswick 
paid  Lawrence  a  visit,  and,  taking  a  seat  by  one  side 
of  the  fireplace,  accepted  the  offer  of  a  cigar. 

"How  are  things  going  on  in  the  house?"  asked 
Lawrence. 

"Well,"  said  Keswick,  speaking  slowly,  "as  you 
know  so  much  of  our  family  affairs,  I  might  as  well 
tell  you  that  they  are  in  a  somewhat  upset  condition. 
When  I  went  in,  I  saw,  at  first,  no  one  but  my  cousin, 
and  she  seemed  so  extraordinarily  glad  to  see  me  that 
I  thought  something  must  be  wrong,  somewhere  ;  and 
when  my  aunt  returned— she  was  not  at  home  when  I 
arrived— she  was  thrown  into  such  a  state  of  mind  on 
seeing  me  that  I  didn't  know  whether  she  was  going 
to  order  me  out  of  the  house  or  go  herself.  But  she 
restrained  herself  wonderfully,  considering  her  prov 
ocation  ;  for,  of  course,  I  have  entirely  disordered  her 
plans  by  appearing  here,  when  she  had  arranged 
everything  for  you  to  have  Miss  March  to  yourself. 
But,  so  far,  the  peace  has  been  kept  between  us,  al 
though  she  scarcely  speaks  to  me." 

"And  Miss  March?"  said  Lawrence.  "You  have 
seen  her?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Junius  5  "  I  saw  her  at  supper  and  for 
259 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

a  short  time  afterwards,  but  she  soon  retired  to  her 
room." 

"  Do  you  think  she  was  disturbed  by  your  return?  " 
asked  Lawrence. 

"I  won't  say  that,"  said  Junius,  "but  she  was  cer 
tainly  not  herself.  Mrs.  Null  tells  me  that  she  expects 
to  go  home  to-morrow  morning,  having  written  to  her 
uncle  to  send  for  her." 

"  That  is  bad,  bad,  very  bad,"  said  Lawrence. 

After  that  there  was  a  pause  in  the  conversation, 
during  which  Mr.  Croft,  with  brows  very  much  knit, 
gazed  steadfastly  into  the  fire.  "Mr.  Keswick,"  he 
said  presently,  "what  you  tell  me  fills  me  with  con 
sternation.  It  is  quite  plain  that  I  shall  have  no 
chance  to  see  Miss  March ;  and  as  there  is  no  one  else 
in  the  world  who  will  do  it  for  me,  I  am  going  to  ask 
you  to  go  to  her  to-morrow  morning,  and  speak  to 
her  in  my  behalf." 

When  this  had  been  said,  Junius  Keswick  dropped 
his  cigar  upon  the  floor,  and  sat  up  very  straight  in 
his  chair,  gazing  fixedly  at  Lawrence.  "Upon  my 
word  ! "  he  said.  "  I  knew  you  were  a  cool  man,  but 
that  request  freezes  my  imagination.  I  cannot  con 
ceive  how  any  man  can  ask  another  to  try  to  win  for 
him  a  lady  whom  he  knows  the  other  man  desires  to 
win  for  himself.  You  have  made  some  requests  be 
fore  that  were  rather  astounding,  but  this  one  over 
shadows  them  all." 

"I  admit,"  said  Lawrence,  "that  what  I  ask  is 
somewhat  out  of  the  way,  but  you  must  consider  the 
circumstances.  Suppose  I  had  met  you  in  mortal 
combat,  and  I  had  dropped  my  sword  where  you 
could  reach  it  and  I  could  not;  would  you  pick 

260 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

it  up  and  give  it  to  me,  or  would  you  run  me 
through  ?  " 

"  I  don't  think  that  comparison  is  altogether  a  good 
one,"  said  Junius. 

"Yes,  it  is,"  said  Lawrence,  "and  covers  the  case 
entirely.  I  am  here,  disabled,  and  if  you  pick  up  my 
sword,  as  I  have  just  asked  you  to  do,  it  is  not  to  be 
assumed  that  your  action  gives  me  the  victory.  It 
merely  gives  me  an  equal  chance  with  yourself." 

"Do  you  mean,"  said  Junius,  "that  you  want  me 
to  go  to  Miss  March  and  deliberately  ask  her  if  she 
will  marry  you?" 

"No,"  said  Lawrence,  "I  have  done  that  myself. 
But  there  are  certain  points  in  regard  to  which  I 
want  to  be  set  right  with  Miss  March.  And  now  I 
wish  you  to  understand  me,  Mr.  Keswick.  I  speak  to 
you,  not  only  as  a  generous  and  honorable  man,  which 
I  have  found  you  to  be,  but  as  a  rival.  I  cannot 
believe  that  you  would  be  willing  to  profit  by  my 
present  disadvantages,  and,  as  I  have  said  two  or 
three  times  before,  it  would  certainly  be  for  your 
interest,  as  a  suitor  for  the  lady,  to  have  this  matter 
settled." 

"Wouldn't  it  be  better,  then,"  said  Junius,  "if  I 
were  to  go  immediately  and  speak  to  her  for  my 
self?" 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence ;  "  I  don't  think  that  would 
settle  the  affair  at  all.  From  what  I  understand  of. 
your  relations  with  Miss  March,  she  knows  you  are 
her  lover,  and  yet  she  neither  accepts  nor  declines 
you.  If  you  were  to  go  to  her  now,  it  is  not  likely 
she  would  give  you  any  definite  answer.  But  in  re 
gard  to  me,  it  would  be  different.  She  would  say  yes 

261 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

or  no.  And  if  she  made  the  latter  answer  I  think 
you  could  walk  over  the  course.  I  am  not  vain 
enough  to  say  that  I  have  been  an  obstacle  to  your 
success,  but  I  assure  you  that  I  have  tried  very  hard 
to  make  myself  such  an  obstacle." 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Junius,  imitating  his  com 
panion  in  the  matter  of  knitting  his  brows  and  gazing 
into  the  fire,  "  that  this  affair  could  be  managed  very 
simply.  Miss  March  is  not  going  at  the  break  of 
day.  Why  don't  you  contrive  to  see  her  before  she 
starts,  and  say  for  yourself  what  you  have  to  say  ?  " 

"Nothing  would  please  me  better  than  that,"  said 
Croft  j  "  but  I  don't  believe  she  would  give  me  any 
chance  to  speak  with  her.  Since  my  accident,  she 
has  persistently  and  pointedly  refused  to  grant  me 
even  the  shortest  interview." 

"  That  ought  to  prove  to  you,"  said  Keswick,  "  that 
she  does  not  desire  your  attentions.  You  should  con 
sider  it  as  a  positive  answer." 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Lawrence,  "not  at  all.  And  I 
don't  think  you  would  consider  it  a  positive  answer 
if  you  were  in  my  place.  I  think  she  has  taken  some 
offence  which  is  entirely  groundless,  and  if  you  will 
consent  to  act  for  me  it  will  enable  me  to  set  straight 
this  misunderstanding." 

"Confound  it!"  exclaimed  Keswick.  "Can't  you 
write  to  her,  or  get  some  one  else  to  take  your  love- 
messages  f  " 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  cannot  write  to  her,  for  I 
am  not  sure  that  under  the  circumstances  she  would 
answer  my  letter.  And  I  have  already  asked  Mrs. 
Null,  the  only  other  person  I  could  ask,  to  speak  for 
me,  but  she  has  declined." 

262 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"By  the  Lord  Harry!"  exclaimed  Junius,  "yon 
are  the  rarest  wooer  I  ever  heard  of." 

"I  assure  you,"  said  Lawrence,  his  face  flushing 
somewhat,  "that  it  is  not  my  desire  to  carry  on  my 
wooing  in  this  fashion.  My  whole  soul  is  opposed  to 
it,  but  circumstances  will  have  it  so.  And  as  I  don't 
intend,  if  I  can  help  it,  to  have  my  life  determined  by 
circumstances,  I  must  go  ahead  in  despite  of  them, 
although  I  admit  that  it  makes  the  road  very  rough." 

"  I  should  think  it  would,"  said  Junius.  And  then 
there  was  a  pause  in  the  conversation. 

"Well,  Mr.  Keswick,"  said  Lawrence,  presently, 
"  will  you  do  this  thing  for  me  f  " 

"  Am  I  to  understand,"  said  Junius,  "  that  if  I  don't 
do  it,  it  won't  be  done  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence  j  "  you  are  positively  my  last 
chance.  I  have  racked  my  brains  to  think  of  some 
other  way  of  presenting  my  case  to  Miss  March,  but 
there  is  no  other  way.  I  might  stand  at  my  door 
and  call  to  her  as  she  entered  the  carriage ;  but  that 
would  be  the  height  of  absurdity.  I  might  hop  on 
one  foot  into  the  house ;  but,  even  if  I  wished  to 
present  myself  in  that  way,  I  don't  believe  I  could 
get  up  that  long  flight  of  steps.  It  would  be  worse 
than  useless  to  write,  for  I  should  not  know  what  was 
thought  of  my  letter,  or  even  if  it  had  been  read. 
Mrs.  Keswick  cannot  carry  my  message ;  Mrs.  Null 
will  not ;  and  I  have  only  you  to  call  upon.  I  know 
it  is  a  great  deal  to  ask,  but  it  means  so  much  to  me 
—to  both  of  us,  in  fact— that  I  ask  it." 

"  You  were  kind  enough  to  say,  a  little  while  ago," 
said  Junius,  "that  you  considered  me  an  honorable 
man.  I  try  to  be  such,  and  therefore  will  frankly 

263 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

state  to  you  that  I  can  think  of  but  three  motives, 
satisfactory  to  myself,  for  undertaking  this  business 
for  you,  and  not  one  of  them  is  a  generous  one.  In 
the  first  place,  I  might  care  to  do  it  in  order  to  have 
this  matter  settled  j  for  you  are  such  an  extraordinary 
suitor  that  I  don't  know  in  what  form  you  may  turn 
up  the  next  time.  Secondly,  from  what  you  tell  me 
of  Miss  March's  repugnance  to  meet  you,  I  don't  be 
lieve  my  mission  will  have  an  issue  favorable  to  you  j 
and  the  more  unfavorable  it  is,  the  better  I  shall  like 
it.  My  third  reason  for  acting  for  you  is  that  the 
whole  affair  is  such  an  original  one  that  it  will  rather 
interest  me  to  be  engaged  in  it.  This  last  reason 
would  not  hold,  however,  if  I  had  the  least  expecta 
tion  of  being  successful." 

"  You  consent,  then?  "  said  Lawrence,  quickly,  turn 
ing  towards  the  other.  "  You'll  go  to  Miss  March  for 
me?" 

"Yes,  I  think  I  will,"  said  Junius,  "if  you  will 
accept  the  services  of  a  man  who  is  decidedly  opposed 
to  your  interests." 

"  Of  course  I  never  expected  you  to  favor  them," 
said  Lawrence,  "  nor  is  it  necessary  that  you  should. 
All  I  ask  is  that  you  carry  a  message  to  Miss  March, 
and,  if  she  needs  any  explanation  of  it,  that  you  will 
explain  in  the  way  that  I  shall  indicate ;  that  you 
shall  tell  me  how  she  received  my  message  j  and  that 
you  shall  bring  me  back  her  answer.  There  is  no 
need  of  your  making  any  proposition  to  her ;  that  has 
already  been  done ;  what  I  want  is  that  she  should 
not  go  away  from  here  with  a  misunderstanding  be 
tween  us,  and  that  she  shall  give  me  at  least  the 
promise  of  a  hearing." 

264 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Very  good/7  said  Junius ;  "  now,  what  is  it  that 
you  want  me  to  say  ?  " 

This  was  not  an  easy  question  for  Lawrence  to  answer. 
He  knew  very  well  what  he  wanted  to  say,  if  he  had 
a  chance  of  saying  it  himself.  He  wanted  to  pour  his 
whole  heart  out  to  Koberta  March,  and,  showing  her 
its  present  passion,  to  ask  her  to  forgive  those  days  in 
which  his  mind  only  had  appeared  to  be  engaged. 
He  believed  he  could  say  things  that  would  force  from 
her  the  pardon  of  his  previous  shortcomings,  if  she 
considered  them  as  such.  She  had  been  very  gracious 
to  him  in  time  past,  and  he  did  not  see  why  she  should 
not  be  still  more  gracious  now,  if  he  could  remove  the 
feelings  of  resentment  which  he  believed  were  occa 
sioned  by  her  womanly  insight  into  the  motives  of  his 
conduct  towards  her  during  those  delightful  summer 
days  at  Midbranch. 

But  to  get  another  person  to  say  all  this  was  a  very 
different  thing.  He  was  sure,  however,  that  if  it  were 
not  said  now,  it  would  never  be  said.  It  would  be 
death  to  all  his  hopes  if  Miss  March  went  away,  feeling 
towards  him  as  she  now  felt;  therefore  he  stiffened 
his  purpose,  which  was  quite  used  to  being  stiffened, 
hardened  his  sensibilities,  and  took  his  plunge.  Gaz 
ing  steadfastly  at  the  back  of  the  fireplace  while  he 
spoke,  he  endeavored  to  make  Junius  Keswick  under 
stand  the  nature  and  the  probable  force  of  the  objec 
tions  to  his  line  of  action  as  a  suitor,  which  had  grown 
up  in  the  mind  of  Miss  March ;  and  he  also  endeavored 
to  show  how  completely  and  absolutely  he  had  been 
changed  by  the  vigor  and  ardor  of  his  present  affec 
tion;  and  how  he  was  entitled  to  be  considered  by 
Miss  March  as  a  lover  who  had  but  one  thought  and 

265 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

purpose,  and  that  was  to  win  her ;  and,  as  such,  he 
asked  her  to  give  him  an  opportunity  to  renew  his 
proposal  to  her.  "Now,  then,"  said  Lawrence,  "I 
have  placed  the  case  before  you,  and  I  beg  you  will 
present  it  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  form  in  which 
I  have  given  it  to  you." 

"Mr.  Croft,"  said  Junius,  "this  case  of  yours  is 
worse  than  I  thought  it  was.  What  woman  of  spirit 
would  accept  a  man  who  admitted  that  during  the 
whole  of  his  acquaintance  with  her  he  had  had  his 
doubts  in  regard  to  suitability,  etc.,  but  who,  when  a 
crisis  arrived,  and  another  man  turned  up,  had  deter 
mined  to  overlook  all  his  objections  and  take  her, 
anyway." 

"  That  is  a  very  cold-blooded  way  of  putting  it," 
said  Lawrence,  "and  I  don't  believe  at  all  that  she 
will  look  upon  it  in  that  light.  If  you  will  set  the 
matter  before  her  as  I  have  put  it  to  you,  I  believe 
she  will  see  it  as  I  wish  her  to  see  it." 

"Very  well,"  said  Junius,  rising  and  taking  out 
his  watch ;  "  I  will  make  your  statement  as  accurately 
as  I  can,  and  without  any  interpretations  of  my  own. 
And  now  I  must  bid  you  good  night.  I  had  no  idea 
it  was  after  twelve  o'clock." 

"And  you  will  observe  her  moods?"  asked  Law 
rence. 

"  Yes,"  said  Junius,  as  he  opened  the  door,  "  I  will 
carefully  observe  her  moods." 

"When  Junius  had  gone,  Lawrence  turned  his  face 
again  towards  the  fireplace,  where  the  last  smouldering 
stick  had  just  broken  apart  in  the  middle,  and  the 
two  ends  had  wearily  fallen  over  the  andirons  as  if 
they  wished  it  understood  that  they  could  do  no  more 

266 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

burning  that  night.  Taking  this  as  a  hint,  Lawrence 
prepared  to  retire.  "  Old  Isham  must  have  gone  to< 
bed  long  ago,"  he  said  j  "  but  as  I  have  asked  for  so< 
much  assistance  to-day,  I  think  it  is  well  that  I  shouldt 
try  to  do  some  things  for  myself." 

It  was,  indeed,  very  late ;  but  behind  the  partially 
closed  shutters  of  a  lower  room  of  the  house  sat  old 
Mrs.  Keswick,  gazing  at  the  light  that  was  streaming 
from  the  window  of  the  office,  and  wondering  what 
those  two  men  were  saying  to  each  other  that  was 
keeping  them  sitting  up  together  until  after  midnight. 

Annie  Peyton,  too,  had  not  gone  to  bed,  and  looking 
through  her  chamber  window,  at  the  office,  she  hoped 
that  Cousin  Junius  would  come  away  before  he  lost 
his  temper.  Of  course  she  thought  he  must  have  been 
very  angry  when  he  came  home  and  found  Mr.  Croft 
here  at  the  only  time  that  Roberta  March  had  ever 
visited  the  house,  and  it  was  quite  natural  that  he 
should  go  to  his  rival  and  tell  him  what  he  thought 
about  it.  But  he  had  been  there  a  long,  long  time, 
and  she  did  hope  they  would  not  get  very  angry  with 
each  other,  and  that  nothing  would  happen.  One 
thought  comforted  her  very  much:  Mr.  Croft  was 
disabled,  and  Junius  would  scorn  to  take  advantage 
of  a  man  in  that  condition. 

At  an  upper  window,  at  the  other  end  of  the  house, 
sat  Roberta  March,  ready  for  bed,  but  with  no  inten 
tion  of  going  there  until  Junius  Keswick  had  come 
out  of  the  office.  Knowing  the  two  men  as  she  did, 
she  had  no  fear  that  any  harm  would  come  to  either 
of  them  during  this  long  conference,  whatever  its  sub 
ject  might  be.  That  she  herself  was  that  subject  she 
had  not  the  slightest  doubt,  and  although  it  was  of  no 

267 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

earthly  use  for  her  to  sit  there  and  gaze  upon  that 
light  streaming  into  the  darkness  of  the  yard,  but 
revealing  to  her  no  more  of  what  was  going  on  inside 
the  room  than  if  it  had  been  the  light  of  a  distant 
star,  still  she  sat  and  speculated.  At  last  the  office 
door  opened,  and  Junius  came  out,  turning  to  speak 
to  the  occupant  of  the  room  as  he  did  so.  The  brief 
vision  of  him  which  the  watchers  caught,  as  he  stood 
for  a  moment  in  the  lighted  doorway  before  stepping 
out  into  the  darkness,  showed  that  his  demeanor  was 
as  quiet  and  composed  as  usual ;  and  one  of  the  three 
women  went  to  bed  very  much  relieved. 


268 


CHAPTER  XXII 

FROM  breakfast-time,  the  next  morning,  nntil  ten 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  at  which  hour  the  Midbranch 
carriage  arrived,  Junius  Keswick  had  been  vainly 
endeavoring  to  get  an  opportunity  to  speak  with 
Miss  March.  That  lady  had  remained  in  her  own 
room  nearly  all  the  morning,  where  his  cousin  had 
been  with  her  ;  and  his  aunt,  who  had  her  own  pecu 
liar  ways  of  speeding  the  parting  guest,  had  retired  to 
some  distant  spot  on  the  estate,  either  to  plan  out 
some  farming  operation  for  the  ensuing  season,  or  to 
prevent  her  pent-up  passion  from  boiling  over  in  her 
own  house. 

Thus  Junius  had  the  lower  floor  to  himself,  and  he 
strode  about  in  much  disquietude,  debating  whether 
he  ought  to  send  a  message  to  Roberta,  or  whether  he 
should  wait  till  she  had  finished  her  packing,  or  what 
ever  it  was,  that  was  keeping  her  up-stairs.  His  last 
private  interview  with  her  had  not  been  a  pleasant 
one,  and  if  he  had  intended  to  speak  to  her  for  him 
self,  he  would  not  have  felt  much  encouraged  by  her 
manner  of  the  preceding  evening ;  but  he  was  now 
engaged  on  the  affairs  of  another,  and  he  believed 
that  a  failure  to  attend  to  them  would  be  regarded  as 
a  breach  of  faith. 

269 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

When  Mr.  Brandon's  carriage  drove  into  the  yard 
he  began  to  despair ;  but  now  Roberta  came  running 
down-stairs  to  speak  to  Sam,  the  driver,  and  ask  him 
how  long  it  would  be  necessary  to  rest  his  horses. 
Sam  thought  an  hour  would  be  long  enough,  as  they 
would  have  a  good  rest  when  they  got  home ;  and  this 
matter  having  been  settled,  Junius  came  forward,  and 
requested  Roberta  to  step  in  the  parlor,  as  he  had 
something  to  say  to  her.  Without  reply,  she  followed 
him  into  the  room,  and  he  closed  the  door.  They  sat 
down,  one  on  one  side  of  the  round  centre-table,  and 
one  on  the  other,  and  Junius  began  his  statement. 

He  was  by  profession  a  lawyer,  and  he  had  given  a 
great  deal  of  attention  to  the  art  of  putting  things 
plainly,  and  with  a  view  to  a  just  effect.  He  had 
carefully  prepared  in  his  mind  what  he  should  say  to 
Koberta.  He  wished  to  present  this  man's  message 
without  the  slightest  exhibition  of  desire  for  its  suc 
cess,  and  yet  without  any  tendency  to  that  cold 
blooded  way  of  stating  it  to  which  Croft  had  objected. 
He  had,  indeed,  picked  up  his  adversary's  sword,  and 
while  he  did  not  wish,  in  handing  it  to  him,  to  prick 
him  with  it,  or  do  him  some  such  underhand  injury, 
he  did  not  think  it  at  all  necessary  to  sharpen  the 
weapon  before  giving  it  back. 

What  Junius  had  to  say  occupied  a  good  deal  of 
time.  He  expressed  himself  carefully  and  deliber 
ately  ;  and  as  nearly  as  a  skilfully  stuffed  and  pre 
pared  animal  in  a  museum  resembles  its  wild  original 
of  the  forest,  so  did  his  remarks  resemble  those  that 
Lawrence  would  have  made  had  he  been  there. 

Koberta  listened  to  him  in  silence  until  he  had 
finished,  and  then  she  rose  to  her  feet,  and  her  man- 

270 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

ner  was  such  that  Junius  rose  also.  "Junius  Kes 
wick,"  she  said,  "you  have  deliberately  come  to  me 
and  offered  me  the  hand  of  another  man  in  marriage." 

"Not  that,"  said  Junius.  "I  merely  came  to  ex 
plain—" 

"  Do  not  split  hairs,"  she  interrupted.  "  You  did 
exactly  that.  You  came  to  me  because  he  could  not 
come  himself,  and  offered  him  to  me.  Now  go  to  him 
from  me,  and  tell  him  that  I  accept  him."  And  with 
that  she  swept  out  of  the  room,  and  came  down-stairs 
no  more  until,  bonneted,  and  accompanied  by  Miss 
Annie,  she  hurried  to  the  front  door,  and  entered  the 
carriage  which  was  there  waiting  for  her,  with  Peggy 
by  the  driver.  "With  some  quick  good-bys  and 
kisses  to  Annie,  but  never  a  word  to  Junius  or  any 
body  else,  she  drove  away. 

If  Junius  Keswick  had  been  nervous  and  anxious 
that  morning,  as  he  strode  about  the  house  waiting 
for  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  Miss  March,  it  may 
well  be  supposed  that  Lawrence  Croft,  shut  up  in  his 
little  room  at  the  end  of  the  yard,  would  be  more  so. 
He  had  sat  at  his  window,  waiting  and  waiting.  He 
had  occasionally  seen  Mr.  Keswick  come  out  on  the 
porch  and  with  long  strides  pace  backward  and  for 
ward,  and  he  knew  by  that  sign  that  he  had  yet  no 
message  to  bring  him.  He  had  seen  the  Midbranch 
carriage  drive  into  the  yard ;  he  had  seen  Miss  March 
come  out  on  the  porch  and  speak  to  the  driver,  and 
then  go  in  again ;  he  had  seen  the  carriage  driven 
under  a  large  tree,  where  the  horses  were  taken  out 
and  led  away  to  be  refreshed ;  in  an  hour  or  more,  he 
saw  them  brought  back  and  harnessed  to  the  vehicle, 
which  was  turned  and  driven  up  again  to  the  door, 

271 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

when  some  baggage  was  brought  down  and  strapped 
on  a  little  platform  behind.  Shortly  afterwards 
Peggy  came  round  the  end  of  the  house,  with  a  hat 
on,  and  a  little  bundle  under  her  arm,  and  approached 
the  carriage,  making,  however,  a  wide  turn  towards 
the  office,  at  which,  and  a  mile  or  two  beyond,  her 
far-off  gaze  was  steadily  directed. 

Lawrence  threw  up  the  sash  and  called  to  her,  and 
his  guardian  imp  approached  the  window.  "Are 
you  Miss  March's  maid?  I  think  I  have  seen  you  at 
Midbranch." 

"  Yaas,  sah ;  you's  done  seen  me  offen,"  said  Peggy. 

"Does  Miss  March  intend  to  start  immediately?" 
he  asked. 

"  Yaas,  sah,"  said  the  good  Peggy ;  "  she'll  be  out  in 
a  minute,  soon  as  she  done  kissin'  Mahs>  Junius  good- 
by  in  de  parlor."  And  then,  noticing  a  look  of 
astonishment  on  the  gentleman's  face,  she  added: 
"Dey's  gwine  to  be  mar'ed  Chris'mus." 

"  What ! "  exclaimed  Lawrence. 

"Good-by,  Mister  Oof,"  said  Peggy;  "Tse  got  to 
hurry  up." 

Lawrence  made  no  answer,  but  mechanically  tossed 
her  a  coin,  which  picking  up,  she  gave  him  a  fare 
well  grin,  and  hastened  to  take  her  seat  by  the 
driver. 

Very  soon  afterwards  Lawrence  saw  Roberta  come 
out,  accompanied  only  by  Mrs.  Null,  and  hurry  down 
the  steps.  Forgetting  his  injured  ankle,  he  sprang  to 
his  feet,  and  stepping  quickly  to  the  door,  opened  it, 
and  stood  on  the  threshold.  But  Miss  March  did  not 
even  look  his  way.  He  gazed  at  her  with  wide-open 
eyes  as  she  hastily  kissed  Mrs.  Null  and  sprang  into 

272 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

the  carriage,  which  was  immediately  driven  off.  As 
Mrs.  Null  turned  to  go  into  the  house,  she  looked 
towards  the  office  and  nodded  to  him.  He  believed 
that  she  would  have  come  to  him  if  he  had  called  her, 
but  he  did  not  call.  His  mind  was  in  such  a  condi 
tion  that  he  would  not  have  been  capable  of  framing 
a  question,  had  she  come.  He  felt  that  he  could  speak 
to  no  one  until  he  had  seen  Keswick.  Closing  the 
door,  he  went  back  to  his  chair  j  and  as  he  did  so  his 
ankle  pained  him  sadly,  but  of  this  he  scarcely 
thought. 

He  did  not  have  to  wait  long  for  Junius  Keswick, 
for  in  about  ten  minutes  that  individual  entered. 
Lawrence  turned  as  his  visitor  opened  the  door,  and 
he  saw  a  countenance  which  had  undergone  a  very 
noticeable  change.  It  was  not  dark  or  lowering  j  it 
was  not  pale ;  but  it  was  gray  and  hard,  and  the 
eyes  looked  larger  than  Lawrence  had  remembered 
them. 

"Without  preface  or  greeting,  Junius  approached 
him  and  said :  "  I  have  taken  your  message  to  Miss 
March,  and  have  brought  you  one  in  return.  You 
are  accepted." 

Lawrence  pushed  back  his  chair,  and  stared  blankly 
at  the  other.  "What  do  you  mean?"  he  presently 
asked. 

"  I  mean  what  I  say,"  said  Keswick.  "  Miss  March 
has  accepted  you." 

A  crowd  of  emotions  rushed  through  the  brain  of 
Lawrence  Croft ;  joy  was  among  them,  but  it  was  a 
joy  that  was  jostled  and  shaken  and  pushed  this  way 
and  that.  "I  do  not  understand,"  he  said.  "I  did 
not  expect  such  a  decisive  message.  I  supposed  she 

273 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

might  send  me  some  encouragement,  some— why 
didn't  she  see  me  before  she  left?  " 

"  I  am  not  here  to  explain  her  actions,  if  I  could," 
said  Junius,  who  had  not  sat  down.  "  She  said :  '  Tell 
him  I  accept  him.7  That  is  all.  Good  morning." 

"  But  stop ! "  cried  Lawrence,  on  his  feet  again. 
"You  must  tell  me  more  than  that.  Did  you  say 
to  her  only  what  I  said  to  you?  How  did  it  affect 
her?" 

"Oh,"  said  Junius,  turning  suddenly  at  the  door, 
"  I  forgot  that  you  asked  me  to  observe  her  mood. 
Well,  she  was  very  angry." 

"With  me?"  cried  Lawrence. 

"  With  me,"  said  Junius.  And  closing  the  door  be 
hind  him,  he  strode  away. 

The  accepted  lover  sat  down.  He  had  never  spoken 
more  truly  than  when  he  said  he  did  not  understand 
it.  "  Is  she  really  mine  t "  he  exclaimed.  And  with 
his  eyes  fixed  on  the  blank  wall  over  the  mantel 
piece,  he  repeated  over  and  over  again:  "Is  she 
mine  ?  Is  she  really  mine  ?  "  He  had  well-developed 
mental  powers,  but  the  work  of  setting  this  matter 
straight  and  plain  was  too  difficult  for  him. 

If  she  had  sent  him  some  such  message  as  this,  "  I 
am  very  angry  with  you,  but  some  day  you  can  come 
and  explain  yourself  to  me,"  his  heart  would  have 
leaped  for  joy.  He  would  have  believed  that  his 
peace  had  been  made,  and  that  he  had  only  to  go  to 
her  to  call  her  his  own.  Now  his  heart  desired  to 
leap  with  joy,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  know  how  to  do 
it.  The  situation  was  such  an  anomalous  one.  After 
such  a  message  as  this,  why  had  she  not  let  him  see 
her?  Why  had  she  been  angry  with  Keswick?  Was 

274 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

that  pique?  And  then  a  dark  thought  crossed  his 
mind.  Had  he  been  accepted  to  punish  the  other? 
No,  he  could  not  believe  thatj  no  woman  such  as 
Koberta  March  would  give  herself  away  from  such 
a  motive.  Had  Keswick  been  joking  with  him?  No, 
he  could  not  believe  that  5  no  man  could  joke  with 
such  a  face. 

Even  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Keswick  had  not  bidden  Miss 
March  farewell  troubled  the  mind  of  Lawrence.  It 
was  true  that  she  might  not  yet  know  that  the  match 
which  she  had  so  much  encouraged  had  been  finally 
made,  but  something  must  be  very  wrong,  or  she 
would  not  have  been  absent  at  the  moment  of  her 
guest's  departure.  And  what  did  that  beastly  little 
negro  mean  by  telling  him  that  Keswick  and  Miss 
March  were  to  be  married  at  Christmas,  and  that  the 
two  were  kissing  each  other  good-by  in  the  parlor? 
Why,  the  man  had  not  even  come  out  to  put  her  in 
the  carriage,  and  the  omission  of  this  courtesy  was 
very  remarkable.  These  questions  were  entirely  too 
difficult  for  him  to  resolve  by  himself.  It  was  abso 
lutely  necessary  that  more  should  be  told  to  him  and 
explained  to  him.  Seeing  the  negro  boy  Plez  crossing 
the  yard,  he  called  him  and  asked  him  to  tell  Mr. 
Keswick  that  Mr.  Croft  wished  to  see  him  immedi 
ately. 

"  Mahs'  Junius,"  said  the  boy,  "  he  done  gone  to  de 
railroad  to  take  de  kyars.  He  done  took  he  knapsack 
on  he  back,  an7  walk  'cross  de  fieFs." 

When,  about  an  hour  or  two  afterwards,  Uncle 
Isham  brought  Mr.  Croft  his  dinner,  the  old  negro 
appeared  to  have  lost  that  air  of  attentive  geniality 
which  he  usually  put  on  while  waiting  on  the  gentle- 

275 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

man.  Lawrence,  however,  took  no  notice  of  this,  but 
before  the  man  reached  the  table  on  which  he  was  to 
place  the  tray  he  carried,  he  asked :  "  Is  it  true  that 
Mr.  Keswick  has  gone  away  by  train?" 

"  Yaas,  sah,"  answered  Isham. 

"And  where  is  Mrs.  Keswick?"  asked  Lawrence. 
"  Isn't  she  in  the  house  ?  " 

"  No,  sah ;  done  gwine  vis'tin',  I  'spec'." 

"When  will  she  return?" 

"Dunno,"  said  Isham.  "She  nebber  comes  to  me 
an'  tells  me  whar  she  gwine  an'  when  she  comin' 
back." 

And  then,  after  satisfying  himself  that  nothing  more 
was  needed  of  him  for  the  present,  Isham  left  the 
room ;  and  when  he  reached  the  kitchen,  he  addressed 
himself  to  its  plump  mistress.  "Letty,"  said  he, 
"when  dat  ar  Mister  Crof  has  got  fru  wid  his 
dinner,  you  go  an'  fotch  back  de  plates  an'  dishes. 
He  axes  too  many  questions  to  suit  me  dis  day." 

"  You  is  po'ly  to-day,  Uncle  Isham,"  said  Letty. 

"Yaas,"  said  the  old  man 5  "I'se  right  much  on 
de  careen." 

Uncle  Isham,  perhaps,  was  not  more  loyal  to  the 
widow  Keswick  than  many  old  servants  were  and  are 
to  their  former  mistresses,  but  his  loyalty  was  peculiar 
in  that  it  related  principally  to  his  regard  for  her 
character.  This  regard  he  wished  to  be  very  high, 
and  it  always  troubled  and  unsettled  his  mind  when 
the  old  lady  herself  or  anybody  else  interfered  with 
his  efforts  to  keep  it  high.  For  years  he  had  been 
hoping  that  the  time  would  come  when  she  would 
cease  to  "  r'ar  and  chawge,"  but  she  had  continued,  at 
intervals,  to  indulge  in  that  most  unsuitable  exercise  5 

276 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

and  now  that  it  appeared  that  she  had  reared  and 
charged  again,  her  old  servant  was  much  depressed. 
She  had  gone  away  from  the  house,  and,  for  all  he 
knew,  she  might  stay  away  for  days  or  weeks,  as  she 
had  done  before  ;  and  Uncle  Isham  was  never  so  much 
"  on  the  careen "  as  when  he  found  himself  forced  to 
believe  that  his  old  mistress  was  still  a  woman  who 
could  do  a  thing  like  that. 

Letty  had  no  objections  to  answering  questions,  but, 
much  to  her  disappointment,  Lawrence  asked  her 
none.  He  had  had  enough  of  catechising  negroes. 
But  he  requested  her  to  ask  Mrs.  Null  if  she  would  be 
kind  enough  to  step  out,  for  a  few  minutes,  and  speak 
to  him.  When,  very  shortly  thereafter,  that  lady 
appeared,  Lawrence  was  seated  at  his  open  door,  ready 
to  receive  her. 

"  How  are  you  t "  she  said.  "  And  how  is  your  ankle 
to-day?  You  have  had  nobody  to  attend  to  it." 

"It  has  hurt  me  a  good  deal,"  he  answered.  "I 
think  I  must  have  given  it  a  wrench  this  morning ; 
but  I  put  on  it  some  of  the  lotion  Mrs.  Keswick  left 
with  me,  and  it  feels  better." 

"It  is  too  bad,"  said  Mrs.  Null,  "that  you  have  to 
attend  to  it  yourself." 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Lawrence.  "Now  that  I  know 
how,  I  can  do  it  perfectly  well  ;  and  I  don't  care  a 
snap  about  my  ankle,  except  that  it  interferes  with 
more  important  affairs.  Why  do  you  suppose  Miss 
March  went  away  without  speaking  to  me,  or  taking 
leave  of  me  in  any  way?  " 

"I  thought  that  would  trouble  you,"  said  she, 
"and,  to  speak  honestly,  I  don't  think  it  was  right. 
But  Roberta  was  in  a  very  agitated  condition  when 

277 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

she  left  here,  and  I  don't  believe  she  ever  thought  of 
taking  leave  of  you,  or  any  one,  except  me.  She  and 
I  are  very  good  friends,  but  she  doesn't  confide  much  in 
me.  But  one  thing  I  am  pretty  sure  of,  and  that  is 
that  she  is  dreadfully  angry  with  my  cousin  Junius, 
and  I  am  very  sorry  for  that." 

"  How  did  he  anger  her  ?  "  asked  Lawrence,  wishing 
to  find  out  how  much  this  young  woman  knew. 

"  I  haven't  the  least  idea,"  said  Miss  Annie.  "  All 
I  know  is,  she  had  quite  a  long  talk  with  him  in  the 
parlor,  and  after  that  she  came  flying  up-stairs,  just  as 
indignant  as  she  could  be.  She  didn't  say  much,  but 
I  could  see  how  her  soul  raged  within  her."  And 
now  the  young  lady  stopped  speaking,  and  looked 
straight  into  Lawrence's  face.  "  It  isn't  possible,"  she 
said,  "  that  you  have  been  sending  my  cousin  to  pro 
pose  to  her  for  you  ?  " 

This  was  not  a  pleasant  question  to  answer,  and, 
besides,  Lawrence  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the 
period  had  passed  for  making  confidants  of  other 
persons  in  regard  to  his  love-affairs.  "Do  you  sup 
pose  I  would  do  that?"  he  said. 

"No,  I  don't,"  Miss  Annie  answered.  "Cousin 
Junius  would  never  have  undertaken  such  a  thing, 
and  I  don't  believe  you  would  be  cruel  enough  to 
ask  him." 

"Thank  you  for  your  good  opinion,"  said  Law 
rence.  "  And  now  can  you  tell  me  when  Mr.  Keswick 
is  expected  to  return  f" 

"He  has  gone  back  to  Washington,  and  he  told  me 
he  should  stay  there  some  time." 

"And  why  has  not  Mrs.  Keswick  been  out  to  see 
me  ? "  asked  Lawrence. 

278 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  You  are  dreadfully  inquisitive,"  said  Miss  Annie ; 
"  but,  to  tell  you  the  simple  truth,  Mr.  Croft,  I  don't 
believe  Aunt  Keswick  takes  any  further  interest  in 
you,  now  that  Boberta  has  gone.  She  had  set  her 
heart  on  making  a  match  between  you  two,  and  doing 
it  here  without  delay;  and  I  think  that  everything 
going  wrong  about  this  has  put  her  into  the  state  of 
mind  she  is  in  now." 

"Has  she  really  gone  away?"  asked  Lawrence. 

"  Oh,  that  doesn't  amount  to  anything,"  said  Miss 
Annie.  "She  went  over  the  fields  to  Hewlett's,  to 
see  the  postmistress,  who  is  an  old  friend,  to  whom 
she  often  goes  for  comfort  when  things  are  not  right 
at  home.  But  I  am  going  after  her  this  afternoon  in 
the  spring-wagon.  I'll  take  Plez  along  with  me  to 
open  the  gates.  I  am  sure  I  shall  bring  her  back." 

"  I  must  admit,  Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  I 
am  very  inquisitive,  but  you  can  easily  understand 
how  much  I  am  troubled  and  perplexed." 

"I  expect  Miss  March's  going  away  troubled  you 
more  than  anything  else,"  said  she. 

"  That  is  true,"  he  answered  j  "  but  then,  there  are 
other  things  which  give  me  a  great  deal  of  anxiety. 
I  came  here  to  be,  for  a  day  or  two,  the  guest  of  a 
lady  on  whom  I  have  no  manner  of  claim  for  pro 
longed  hospitality.  And  now  here  I  am,  compelled 
to  stay  in  this  room  and  depend  on  her  kindness  or 
forbearance  for  everything  I  have.  I  would  go  away 
immediately,  but  I  know  it  would  injure  me  to 
travel.  The  few  steps  I  took  yesterday  have  prob 
ably  set  me  back  for  several  days." 

"Oh,  it  would  never  do  for  you  to  travel,"  said 
she,  "with  such  a  sprained  ankle  as  you  have.  It 

279 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

would  certainly  injure  you  very  much  to  be  driven 
all  the  way  to  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs.  I  am  told 
the  road  is  very  rough  between  here  and  there ;  but 
perhaps  you  didn't  notice  it,  having  come  over  on 
horseback." 

"Yes,  I  did  notice  it,  and  I  could  not  stand  that 
drive.  And  even  if  I  could  be  got  to  the  train  to 
go  North,  I  should  have  to  walk  a  good  deal  at  the 
stations." 

"  You  simply  must  not  think  of  it,"  said  Miss  Annie. 
"  And  now  let  me  give  you  a  piece  of  advice.  I  am 
a  practical  person,  as  you  may  know,  and  I  like  to  do 
things  in  a  practical  way.  The  very  best  thing  that 
you  can  do  is  to  arrange  with  Aunt  Keswick  to  stay 
here  as  a  boarder  until  your  ankle  is  well.  She  has 
taken  boarders,  and  in  this  case  I  don't  think  she 
would  refuse.  As  I  told  you  before,  you  must  not 
expect  her  to  take  the  same  interest  in  you  that  she 
did  when  you  first  came;  but  she  is  really  a  kind 
woman,  though  she  has  such  dreadfully  funny  ways, 
and  she  wouldn't  have  neglected  you  to-day  if  it 
hadn't  been  that  her  mind  is  entirely  wrapped  up  in 
other  things.  If  you  like,  I'll  propose  such  an  ar 
rangement  to  her  this  afternoon." 

"  You  are  very  kind  indeed,"  said  Lawrence ;  "  but 
is  there  not  danger  of  offending  her  by  such  a  propo 
sition?" 

"Yes,  I  think  there  is,"  answered  Miss  Annie, 
"  and  I  have  no  doubt  she  will  fly  out  into  a  passion 
when  she  hears  that  the  gentleman  whom  she  invited 
here  as  a  guest  proposes  to  stay  as  a  boarder ;  but  I 
think  I  can  pacify  her,  and  make  her  look  at  the 
matter  in  the  proper  way." 

280 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  But  why  mention  it  at  all,  and  put  yourself  to  all 
that  trouble  about  it  ? "  said  Lawrence. 

"Why,  of  course,  because  I  think  you  will  be  so 
much  better  satisfied,  and  content  to  keep  quiet  and 
get  well,  if  you  feel  that  you  have  a  right  to  stay 
here.  If  Aunt  Keswick  wasn't  so  very  different  from 
other  people,  I  wouldn't  have  mentioned  this  matter, 
for,  really,  there  is  no  necessity  for  it  5  but  I  know 
very  well  that  if  you  were  to  drop  out  of  her  mind 
for  two  or  three  days,  and  shouldn't  see  anything  of 
her,  that  you  would  become  dreadfully  nervous  about 
staying  here." 

"You  are  certainly  very  practical,  Mrs.  Null,  and 
very  sensible,  and  very,  very  kind ;  and  nothing  could 
suit  me  better,  under  the  circumstances,  than  the  plan 
you  propose.  But  I  am  extremely  anxious  not  to 
give  offence  to  your  aunt.  She  has  treated  me  with 
the  utmost  kindness  and  hospitality." 

"  Oh,  don't  trouble  yourself  about  that,"  said  Miss 
Annie,  with  a  little  laugh.  "I  am  getting  to  know 
her  so  well  that  I  think  I  can  manage  an  affair  like 
this  very  easily.  And  now  I  must  be  off,  or  it  will 
be  too  late  for  me  to  go  to  Hewlett's  this  afternoon, 
and  I  am  a  very  slow  driver.  Are  you  sure  there  is 
nothing  you  want?  I  shall  go  directly  past  the  store, 
and  can  stop  as  well  as  not." 

"Thank  you  very  much,"  said  Lawrence,  "but  I 
do  not  believe  that  Hewlett's  possesses  an  article  that 
I  need.  One  thing  I  will  ask  you  to  do  for  me  before 
you  go.  I  want  to  write  a  letter,  and  I  find  that  I 
am  out  of  paper;  therefore  I  shall  be  very  much 
obliged  to  you  if  you  will  let  me  have  some,  and 
some  envelopes." 

281 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"Why,  certainly/7  said  Miss  Annie,  and  she  went 
into  the  house. 

She  looked  over  the  stock  of  paper  which  her  aunt 
kept  in  a  desk  in  the  dining-room,  but  she  did  not 
like  it.  "I  don't  believe  he  will  want  to  write  on 
such  ordinary  paper  as  this,"  she  said  to  herself. 
Whereupon  she  went  up-stairs  and  got  some  of  her 
own  paper  and  envelopes,  which  were  much  finer  in 
material  and  more  correct  in  style.  "  I  don't  like  it 
a  bit,"  she  thought,  "  to  give  this  to  him  to  write  that 
letter  on  j  but  I  suppose  it's  bound  to  be  written,  any 
way,  so  he  might  as  well  have  the  satisfaction  of  good 
paper." 

"You  must  excuse  these  little  sheets,"  she  said, 
when  she  took  it  to  him,  "but  you  couldn't  expect 
anything  else  in  an  Amazonian  household  like  ours. 
Cousin  Junius  has  manly  stationery,  of  course,  but  I 
suppose  it  is  all  locked  up  in  that  secretary  in  your 
room." 

"  Oh,  this  will  do  very  well  indeed,"  said  Lawrence ; 
"and  I  wish  I  could  come  out  and  help  you  into 
your  vehicle,"  regarding  the  spring-wagon,  which  now 
stood  at  the  door,  with  Plez  at  the  head  of  the  solemn 
sorrel. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Miss  Annie  ;  "  that  is  not  at  all 
necessary."  And  she  tripped  over  to  the  spring- 
wagon,  and  mounting  into  its  altitudes  without  the 
least  trouble  in  the  world,  she  took  up  the  reins. 
With  these  firmly  grasped  in  her  little  hands,  which 
were  stretched  very  far  out  and  held  very  wide 
apart,  she  gave  the  horse  a  great  jerk  and  told  him 
to  "  get  up  ! "  As  she  moved  off,  Lawrence  from  his 
open  door  called  out,  "  Bon  voyage "  ;  and  in  a  full, 

282 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

clear  voice  she  thanked  him,  but  did  not  dare  to  look 
around,  so  intent  was  she  upon  her  charioteering. 

Slowly  turning  the  horse  towards  the  yard  gate, 
which  Plez  stood  holding  open,  her  whole  soul  was 
absorbed  in  the  act  of  guiding  the  equipage  through 
the  gateway.  Quickly  glancing  from  side  to  side, 
and  then  at  the  horse's  back,  which  ought  to  occupy 
a  medium  position  between  the  two  gate-posts,  she 
safely  steered  the  front  wheels  through  the  dangerous 
pass,  although  a  grin  of  delight  covered  the  face  of 
Plez  as  he  noticed  that  the  hub  of  one  of  the  hind 
wheels  almost  grazed  a  post.  Then  the  observant  boy 
ran  on  to  open  the  other  gate,  and  with  many  jerks 
and  clucks,  Miss  Annie  induced  the  sorrel  to  break 
into  a  gentle  trot 

As  Lawrence  looked  after  her,  a  littie  pang  made 
itself  noticeable  in  his  conscience.  This  girl  was  cer 
tainly  very  kind  to  him,  and  most  remarkably  con 
siderate  of  him  in  the  plan  she  had  proposed.  And 
yet,  he  felt  that  he  had  prevaricated  to  her,  and,  in 
fact,  deceived  her,  in  the  answer  he  had  made  when 
she  asked  him  if  he  had  sent  her  cousin  to  speak  for 
him  to  Miss  March.  Would  she  have  such  friendly 
feelings  towards  him,  and  be  so  willing  to  oblige  him, 
if  she  knew  that  he  had  in  effect  done  the  thing  which 
she  considered  so  wrong  and  so  cruel?  But  it  could 
not  be  helped.  The  time  had  passed  for  confidences. 
He  must  now  work  out  this  affair  for  himself,  without 
regard  to  persons  who  really  had  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  it. 

Closing  his  door,  he  hopped  back  to  his  table,  and, 
seating  himself  at  it,  he  opened  his  travelling-inkstand 
and  prepared  to  write  to  Miss  March.  It  was  abso- 

283 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

lutely  necessary  that  lie  should  write  this  letter  imme 
diately,  for,  after  the  message  he  had  received  from  the 
lady  of  his  love,  no  time  should  be  lost  in  putting  him 
self  in  communication  with  her.  But  before  beginning 
to  write  he  must  decide  upon  the  spirit  of  his  letter. 

Under  the  very  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  ac 
ceptance,  he  did  not  feel  that  he  ought  to  indulge  in 
those  rapturous  expressions  of  ecstasy  in  which  he 
most  certainly  would  have  indulged  if  the  lady  had 
personally  delivered  her  decision  to  him.  He  did 
not  doubt  her,  for  what  woman  would  play  a  joke  like 
that  on  a  man— upon  two  men,  in  fact?  Even  if 
there  were  no  other  reason,  she  would  not  dare  to  do 
it  Nor  did  he  doubt  Keswick.  It  would  have  been 
impossible  for  him  to  come  with  such  a  message  if  it 
had  not  been  delivered  to  him.  And  yet,  Lawrence 
could  not  bring  himself  to  be  rapturous.  If  he  had 
been  accepted  in  cold  blood,  and  a  hand,  and  not  a 
heart,  had  been  given  to  him,  he  would  gladly  take 
that  hand  and  trust  to  himself  to  so  warm  the  heart 
that  it,  also,  would  soon  be  his.  But  he  did  not  know 
what  Roberta  March  had  given  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  knew  very  well  if,  in  his  first 
letter  as  an  accepted  lover,  he  should  exhibit  any  of 
that  caution  and  prudence  which,  in  the  course  of  his 
courtship,  had  proved  to  be  shoals  on  which  he  had 
very  nearly  run  aground,  that  Roberta's  resentment, 
which  had  shown  itself  very  marked  in  this  regard, 
would  probably  be  roused  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
affair  would  be  brought  to  a  very  speedy  and  abrupt 
termination.  If  she  had  been  obliged  to  forgive  him 
once  for  this  line  of  conduct,  he  could  not  expect  her 
to  do  it  again.  To  write  a  letter  which  should  err  in 

284 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

neither  of  these  respects  was  a  very  difficult  thing  to 
do,  and  required  so  much  preparatory  thought  that 
when,  towards  the  close  of  the  afternoon,  Miss  Annie 
drove  in  at  the  yard  gate,  with  Mrs.  Keswick  on  the 
seat  beside  her,  not  a  line  had  been  written. 

Mrs.  Keswick  descended  from  the  spring- wagon  and 
went  into  the  house  ;  but  Miss  Annie  remained  at  the 
bottom  of  the  steps,  for  the  apparent  purpose  of  speak 
ing  to  Plez— perhaps  to  give  him  some  instructions  in 
regard  to  the  leading  of  a  horse  to  its  stable,  or  to 
instil  into  his  mind  some  moral  principle  or  other  j 
but  the  moment  the  vehicle  moved  away,  she  ran 
over  to  the  office  and  tapped  at  the  window,  which 
was  quickly  opened  by  Lawrence. 

"  I  have  spoken  to  her  about  it,"  she  said ;  "  and 
although  she  blazed  up  at  first,  so  that  I  thought  I 
should  be  burned  alive,  I  made  her  understand  just 
how  matters  really  are,  and  she  has  agreed  to  let  you 
stay  here  as  a  boarder." 

"You  are  extremely  good,"  said  Lawrence,  "and 
must  be  a  most  admirable  manager.  This  arrange 
ment  makes  me  feel  much  better  satisfied  than  I 
could  have  been  otherwise."  Then,  leaning  a  little 
farther  out  of  the  window,  he  asked :  "  But  what  am 
I  to  do  for  company  while  I  am  shut  up  here  f  " 

"Oh,  you  will  have  Uncle  Isham,  and  Aunt  Kes 
wick,  and  sometimes  me.  But  I  hope  that  you  will 
soon  be  able  to  come  into  the  house  and  take  your 
meals  and  spend  your  evenings  with  us." 

"You  have  nothing  but  good  wishes  for  me,"  he 
said,  "and  I  believe,  if  you  could  manage  it,  you 
would  have  me  cured  by  magic,  and  sent  off,  well  and 
whole,  to-morrow." 

285 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"Of  course,"  said  Miss  Annie,  very  promptly. 
"Goodnight." 

Just  before  supper,  Mrs.  Keswick  came  in  to  see 
Lawrence.  She  was  very  grave,  almost  severe,  and 
her  conversation  was  confined  to  inquiries  as  to  the 
state  of  his  ankle,  and  his  general  comfort.  But  Law 
rence  took  no  offence  at  her  manner,  and  was  very 
gracious,  saying  some  exceedingly  neat  things  about 
the  way  he  had  been  treated  j  and  after  a  little  her 
manner  slightly  mollified,  and  she  remarked  :  "  And  so 
you  let  Miss  March  go  away  without  settling  anything." 

Now,  Lawrence  considered  this  a  very  incorrect 
statement,  but  he  had  no  wish  to  set  the  old  lady 
right.  He  knew  it  would  joy  her  heart,  and  make 
her  more  his  friend  than  ever,  if  he  should  tell  her 
that  Miss  March  had  accepted  him,  but  this  would  be 
a  very  dangerous  piece  of  information  to  put  in  her 
hands.  He  did  not  know  what  use  she  would  make 
of  it,  or  what  damage  she  might  unwittingly  do  to  his 
prospects.  And  so  he  merely  answered :  "  I  had  no 
idea  she  would  leave  so  soon." 

"Well,"  said  the  old  lady,  "I  suppose,  after  all, 
that  you  needn't  give  it  up  yet.  I  understand  that 
she  is  not  going  to  New  York  before  the  end  of  the 
month,  and  you  may  be  well  enough  before  that  to 
ride  over  to  Midbranch." 

"  I  hope  so,  most  assuredly,"  said  he. 

Lawrence  devoted  that  evening  to  his  letter.  It 
was  a  long  one,  and  was  written  with  a  most  earnest 
desire  to  embrace  all  the  merits  of  each  of  the  two 
kinds  of  letters  which  have  before  been  alluded  to, 
and  to  avoid  all  their  faults.  When  it  was  finished, 
he  read  it,  tore  it  up,  and  threw  it  in  the  fire. 

286 


CHAPTER  XXIH 

THE  next  day  opened  bright  and  clear,  and  before  ten 
o'clock  the  thermometer  had  risen  to  seventy  degrees. 
Instead  of  sitting  in  front  of  the  fireplace,  Lawrence 
had  his  chair  and  table  brought  close  to  his  open 
doorway,  where  he  could  look  out  on  the  same  beau 
tiful  scene  which  had  greeted  his  eyes  a  few  days 
before.  "  But  what  is  the  good,"  he  thought,  "  of  this 
green  grass,  this  sunny  air,  that  blue  sky,  those  white 
clouds,  and  the  distant  tinted  foliage,  without  that 
figure  which  a  few  days  ago  stood  in  the  foreground 
of  the  picture  T  "  But  as  the  woman  to  whom,  in  his 
soul's  sight,  the  whole  world  was  but  a  background, 
was  not  there,  he  turned  his  eyes  from  the  warm  au 
tumnal  scene,  and  prepared  again  to  write  to  her. 
He  had  scarcely  taken  up  his  pen,  however,  when  he 
was  interrupted  by  the  arrival  of  Miss  Annie,  who 
came  to  bring  him  a  book  she  had  just  finished  read 
ing,  a  late  English  novel  which  she  thought  might  be 
more  interesting  than  those  she  had  sent  him.  The 
book  was  one  which  Lawrence  had  not  seen  and 
wanted  to  see ;  but  in  talking  about  it  to  the  young 
lady,  he  discovered  that  she  had  not  read  all  of  it. 
"  Don't  let  me  deprive  you  of  the  book,"  said  Law- 
287 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

rence.  "If  you  have  begun  it,  you  ought  to  go  on 
with  it." 

"  Oh,  don't  trouble  your  mind  about  that,"  she  said, 
with  a  laugh.  "I  have  finished  it,  but  I  have  not 
read  a  word  of  the  beginning.  I  only  looked  at  the 
end  of  it  to  see  how  the  story  turned  out.  I  always 
do  that  before  I  read  a  novel." 

This  remark  much  amused  Lawrence.  "Do  you 
know,"  said  he,  "  that  I  would  rather  not  read  novels 
at  all  than  to  read  them  in  that  way.  I  must  begin 
at  the  beginning,  and  go  regularly  through,  as  the 
author  wishes  his  readers  to  do." 

"  And  perhaps,  when  you  get  to  the  end,"  said  Miss 
Annie,  "  you'll  find  that  the  wrong  man  got  her,  and 
then  you'll  wish  you  had  not  read  the  story." 

"As  you  appear  to  be  satisfied  with  this  novel," 
said  Lawrence,  "  I  wish  you  would  read  it  to  me,  and 
then  I  would  feel  that  I  was  not  taking  an  uncourteous 
precedence  of  you." 

"  I'll  read  it  to  you,"  said  she,  "  or,  at  least,  as  much 
as  you  want  me  to,  for  I  feel  quite  sure  that  after  you 
get  interested  in  it  you  will  want  to  take  it  yourself, 
and  read  straight  on  till  it  is  finished,  instead  of  wait 
ing  for  some  one  to  come  and  give  you  a  chapter  or  two 
at  a  time.  That  would  be  the  way  with  me,  I  know." 

"  I  shall  be  delighted  to  have  you  read  to  me,"  said 
Lawrence.  "  When  can  you  begin? " 

"  Now,"  she  said,  "  if  you  choose.  But  perhaps  you 
wish  to  write." 

"  Not  at  this  moment,"  said  Lawrence,  turning  from 
the  table.  "  Unfortunately,  I  have  plenty  of  leisure. 
Where  will  you  sit?  "  And  he  reached  out  his  hand 
for  a  chair. 

288 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Oh,  I  don't  want  a  chair,"  said  Annie,  taking  her 
seat  on  the  broad  door-step.  "  This  is  exactly  what  I 
like.  I  am  devoted  to  sitting  on  steps.  Don't  you 
think  there  is  something  dreadfully  stiff  about  always 
being  perched  up  in  a  chair?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "  on  some  occasions." 

And  forthwith  she  began  upon  the  first  chapter; 
and  having  read  five  lines  of  this,  she  went  back  and 
read  the  .title-page,  suddenly  remembering  that  Mr. 
Croft  liked  to  begin  a  book  at  the  very  beginning. 
Miss  Annie  had  been  accustomed  to  read  to  her  father, 
and  she  read  aloud  very  well,  and  liked  it.  As  she 
sat  there,  shaded  by  a  great  locust-tree,  which  had 
dropped  so  many  yellow  leaves  upon  the  grass  that, 
now  and  then,  it  could  not  help  letting  a  little  fleck 
of  sunshine  come  down  upon  her,  sometimes  gilding 
for  a  moment  her  light-brown  hair,  sometimes  touch 
ing  the  end  of  a  crimson  ribbon  she  wore,  and  again 
resting  for  a  brief  space  on  the  toe  of  a  very  small 
boot  just  visible  at  the  edge  of  her  dress,  Lawrence 
looked  at  her,  and  said  to  himself:  "Is  it  possible 
that  this  is  the  rather  pale  young  girl  in  black  who 
gave  me  change  from  behind  the  desk  of  Mr.  Candy's 
Information  Shop?  I  don't  believe  it.  That  young 
person  sprang  up  temporarily,  and  is  defunct.  This 
is  some  one  else." 

She  read  three  chapters  before  she  considered  it 
time  to  go  into  the  house  to  see  if  it  were  necessary  for 
her  to  do  anything  about  dinner.  When  she  left  him, 
Lawrence  turned  again  to  his  writing. 

That  afternoon  he  sent  Mrs.  Null  a  little  note  on 
the  back  of  a  card,  asking  her  if  she  could  let  him 
have  a  few  more  sheets  of  paper.  Lawrence  found 

289 


THE  LATE  MRS.   NULL 

this  request  necessary,  as  he  had  used  up  that  day  all 
the  paper  she  had  sent  him,  and  the  small  torn  pieces 
of  it  now  littered  the  fireplace. 

"He  must  be  writing  a  diary  letter,"  said  Miss 
Annie  to  herself,  when  she  received  this  message, 
"such  as  we  girls  used  to  write  when  we  were  at 
school."  And  bringing  down  a  little  the  corners  of 
her  mouth,  she  took  from  her  stationery-box  what 
she  thought  would  be  quite  paper  enough  to  send  to 
a  man  for  such  a  purpose. 

But  although  the  means  were  thus  made  abundant, 
the  letter  to  Miss  March  was  not  then  written.  Law 
rence  finally  determined  that  it  was  simply  impossible 
for  him  to  write  to  the  lady  until  he  knew  more. 
What  Keswick  had  told  him  had  been  absurdly  little, 
and  he  had  hurried  away  before  there  had  been  time 
to  ask  further  questions.  Instead  of  sending  a  letter 
to  Miss  March,  he  would  write  to  Keswick,  and  would 
put  to  him  a  series  of  interrogations,  the  answers  to 
which  would  make  him  understand  better  the  position 
in  which  he  stood.  Then  he  would  write  to  Miss  March. 

The  next  day  Miss  Annie  could  not  read  to  him  in 
the  morning,  because,  as  she  came  and  told  him,  she 
was  going  to  Hewlett's,  on  an  errand  for  her  aunt. 
But  there  would  be  time  to  give  him  a  chapter  or  two 
before  dinner,  when  she  came  back. 

"Would  it  be  any  trouble,"  said  Lawrence,  "for 
you  to  mail  a  letter  for  me  f  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Miss  Annie,  but  not  precisely  in  the 
same  tone  in  which  she  would  have  told  him  that  it 
would  be  no  trouble  to  read  to  him  two  or  three  chap 
ters  of  a  novel.  And  yet  she  would  pass  directly  by  the 
residence  of  Miss  Harriet  Corvey,  the  post-mistress. 

290 


"Is  it  possible  that  this  is  the  rather  pale  young  girl  in  black 
who  gave  me  change  ?  " 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

As  Miss  Annie  walked  along  the  narrow  path  which 
ran  by  the  roadside  to  Hewlett's,  with  the  blue  sky 
above  her  and  the  pleasant  October  sunshine  all  about 
her,  and  followed  at  a  little  distance  by  the  boy  Plez, 
carrying  a  basket,  she  did  not  seem  to  be  taking  that 
enjoyment  in  her  walk  which  was  her  wont.  Her 
brows  were  slightly  contracted,  and  she  looked  straight 
in  front  of  her  without  seeing  anything  in  particular, 
after  the  manner  of  persons  whose  attention  is  entirely 
occupied  in  looking  into  their  own  minds  at  something 
they  do  not  like.  "  It  is  too  much  ! "  she  said,  almost 
aloud,  her  brows  contracting  a  little  more  as  she  spoke. 
"  It  was  bad  enough  to  have  to  furnish  the  paper ;  but 
for  me  to  have  to  carry  the  letter  is  entirely  too 
much ! "  And  at  this  she  involuntarily  glanced  at 
the  thick  and  double-stamped  missive,  which,  having 
no  pocket,  she  carried  in  her  hand.  She  had  not 
looked  at  it  before,  and  as  her  eyes  fell  upon  the 
address,  she  stopped  so  suddenly  that  Plez,  who  was 
dozing  as  he  walked,  nearly  ran  into  her. 

"What!"  she  exclaimed,  "<Junius  Keswick,  5  Q 
Street,  Washington,  District  of  Columbia!7  Is  it 
possible  that  Mr.  Croft  has  been  writing  to  him  all 
this  time  f  "  She  now  walked  on ;  and  although  she 
still  seemed  to  notice  not  the  material  objects  around 
her,  the  frown  disappeared  from  her  brow,  and  her 
mental  vision  seemed  to  be  fixed  upon  something 
more  pleasant  than  that  which  had  occupied  it 
before.  As  it  will  be  remembered,  she  had  refused 
positively  to  have  anything  to  do  with  Lawrence's 
suit  to  Miss  March,  and  it  was  a  relief  to  her  to  know 
that  the  letter  she  was  carrying  was  not  for  that  lady. 
"  But  why,"  thought  she,  "  should  he  be  writing  for 

291 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

two  whole  evenings  to  Junius?  I  expected  that  he 
would  write  to  her  to  find  out  why  she  went  off  and 
left  him  in  that  way,  but  I  did  not  suppose  he  would 
want  to  write  to  Junius.  It  seems  to  me  they  had 
time  enough,  that  night  they  were  together,  to  talk 
over  everything  they  had  to  say." 

And  then  she  began  to  wonder  what  they  had  to 
say,  and  gradually  the  conviction  grew  upon  her 
that  Mr.  Croft  was  a  very,  very  honorable  man.  Of 
course  it  was  wrong  that  he  should  have  come  here 
to  try  to  win  a  lady  who,  if  one  looked  at  it  in  the 
proper  light,  really  belonged  to  another.  But  it  now 
came  into  her  mind  that  Mr.  Croft  must,  by  degrees, 
have  seen  this  for  himself,  and  that  it  was  the  subject 
of  his  long  conference  with  Junius,  and  also,  most 
probably,  of  this  letter.  The  conference  certainly 
ended  amicably,  and,  in  that  case,  it  was  scarcely 
possible  that  Junius  had  given  up  his  claim.  He  was 
not  that  kind  of  a  man. 

If  Mr.  Croft  had  become  convinced  that  he  ought 
to  retire  from  this  contest,  and  had  done  so,  and 
Roberta  had  been  informed  of  it,  that  would  explain 
everything  that  had  happened.  Roberta's  state  of 
mind  after  she  had  had  the  talk  in  the  parlor  with 
Junius,  and  her  hurried  departure  without  taking 
the  slightest  notice  of  either  of  the  gentlemen,  was 
quite  natural.  What  woman  would  like  to  know  that 
she  had  been  bargained  about,  and  that  her  two  lovers 
had  agreed  which  of  them  should  have  her?  It  was 
quite  to  be  expected  that  she  would  be  very  angry 
at  first,  though  there  was  no  doubt  she  would  get  over 
it,  so  far  as  Junius  was  concerned. 

Having  thus  decided,  entirely  to  her  own  satisfac- 
292 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

tion,  that  this  was  the  state  of  affairs,  she  thought  it 
was  a  grand  thing  that  there  were  two  such  young 
men  in  the  world  as  her  cousin  and  Mr.  Croft,  who 
could  arrange  such  an  affair  in  so  kindly  and  honor 
able  a  manner,  without  feeling  that  they  were  obliged 
to  fight— that  horribly  stupid  way  in  which  such 
things  used  to  be  settled. 

This  vision  of  masculine  high-mindedness  which 
Miss  Annie  had  called  up  seemed  very  pleasant  to 
her,  and  her  mental  satisfaction  was  denoted  by  a 
pretty  little  glow  which  came  into  her  face,  and  by  a 
certain  increase  of  sprightliness  in  her  walk.  "  Now, 
then,"  she  said  to  herself;  and  although  she  did  not 
finish  the  sentence,  even  in  her  own  mind,  the  sky 
increased  the  intensity  of  its  beautiful  blue ;  the  sun 
began  to  shine  with  a  more  golden  radiance  ;  the 
little  birds  who  had  not  yet  gone  south  chirped  to 
each  other  as  merrily  as  if  it  had  been  early  summer ; 
the  yellow  and  purple  wild  flowers  of  autumn  threw 
into  their  blossoms  a  richer  coloring;  and  even  the 
blades  of  grass  seemed  to  stretch  themselves  upward, 
green,  tender,  and  promising;  and  when  the  young 
lady  skipped  up  the  step  of  the  post-office,  she  dropped 
the  letter  into  Miss  Harriet  Corvey's  little  box  with 
the  air  of  a  mother-bird  feeding  a  young  one  with  the 
first  ripe  cherry  of  the  year. 

A  day  or  two  after  this,  Lawrence  found  himself 
able,  by  the  aid  of  a  cane  and  a  rude  crutch,  which 
Uncle  Isham  had  made  for  him  and  the  top  of  which 
Mrs.  Keswick  had  carefully  padded,  to  make  his  way 
from  the  office  to  the  house ;  and  after  that  he  took 
his  meals  and  passed  the  greater  part  of  his  time  in 
the  larger  edifice.  Sometimes  he  ransacked  the  old 

293 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

library;  sometimes  Miss  Annie  read  to  him,  and 
sometimes  he  read  to  her.  In  the  evening  there 
were  games  of  cards,  in  which  the  old  lady  would 
occasionally  take  a  hand,  although  more  frequently 
Miss  Annie  and  Mr.  Croft  were  obliged  to  content 
themselves  with  some  game  at  which  two  could  play. 
But  the  pleasantest  hours,  perhaps,  were  those  which 
were  spent  in  talking ;  for  Lawrence  had  travelled  a 
good  deal,  and  had  seen  so  many  of  the  things  in 
foreign  lands  which  Miss  Annie  had  always  wished 
that  she  could  see. 

Lawrence  was  waiting  until  he  should  hear  from 
Mr.  Keswick,  so  that,  with  some  confidence  in  his 
position,  he  could  write  to  Miss  March.  His  trunk 
had  been  sent  over  from  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs, 
and  he  was  much  better  satisfied  to  wait  here  than  at 
that  deserted  watering-place.  It  was,  indeed,  a  very 
agreeable  spot  in  which  to  wait,  and  quite  near 
enough  to  Midbranch  for  him  to  carry  on  his  desired 
operations,  when  the  time  should  arrive.  He  was  a 
little  annoyed  that  Keswick's  answer  should  be  so 
long  in  coming,  but  he  resolved  not  to  worry  himself 
about  it.  The  answer  was  probably  a  difficult  letter 
to  write,  and  one  which  Keswick  would  not  be  likely 
to  dash  off  in  a  hurry.  He  remembered,  too,  that  the 
mail  was  sent  and  received  only  twice  a  week  at  How- 
lett's. 

Old  Mrs.  Keswick  was  kind  to  him,  but  grave  and 
rather  silent.  Once  she  passed  the  open  door  of  the 
parlor,  by  the  window  of  which  sat  Miss  Annie  and 
Lawrence,  deeply  engaged,  their  heads  together,  in 
studying  out  something  on  a  map ;  and  as  she  went 
up-stairs  she  grimly  grinned  and  said  to  herself :  "  If 

294 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

that  Null  could  look  in  and  see  them  now,  I  reckon 
our  young  man  would  wish  he  had  the  use  of  all  his 
arms  and  legs." 

But  if  Mr.  Null  should  disapprove  of  his  wife  and 
that  gentleman  from  New  York  spending  so  much  of 
their  time  together,  old  Mrs.  Keswick  had  not  the 
least  objection  in  the  world.  She  was  well  satisfied 
that  Mr.  Croft  should  find  it  interesting  enough  to 
stay  here  until  the  time  came  when  he  should  be  able 
to  go  to  Midbranch.  "When  that  period  arrived  she 
would  not  be  slow  to  urge  him  to  his  duty,  in  spite  of 
any  obstacles  Mr.  Brandon  might  put  in  his  way.  So, 
for  the  present,  she  possessed  her  soul  in  as  much 
peace  as  the  soul  of  a  headstrong  and  very  wilful  old 
lady  is  capable  of  being  possessed. 


295 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  letter  which  Lawrence  Croft  had  written  to 
Junius  Keswick  was  not  answered  for  more  than  a 
week ;  and  when  the  answer  arrived,  it  did  not  come 
through  the  Hewlett's  post-office,  but  was  brought 
from  a  mail-station  on  the  railway  by  a  special  mes 
senger.  In  this  epistle  Mr.  Keswick  stated  that  he 
would  have  written  much  sooner  but  for  the  fact  that 
he  had  been  away  from  Washington,  and  having  just 
returned,  had  found  Mr.  Croft's  letter  waiting  for  him. 
The  answer  was  written  in  a  tone  which  Lawrence 
did  not  at  all  expect.  It  breathed  the  spirit  of  a  man 
who  was  determined  and  almost  defiant.  It  told  Mr. 
Croft  that  the  writer  did  not  now  believe  that  Miss 
March's  acceptance  of  the  said  Mr.  Croft  should  be 
considered  of  any  value  whatever.  It  was  the  result 
of  a  very  peculiar  condition  of  things,  in  which  he 
regretted  having  taken  a  part,  and  it  was  given  in  a 
moment  of  pique  and  indignation,  which  gave  Miss 
March  a  right  to  reconsider  her  hasty  decision,  if  she 
chose  to  do  so.  It  would  not  be  fair  for  either  of  them 
to  accept,  as  conclusive,  words  said  under  the  extraor 
dinary  circumstances  which  surrounded  Miss  March 
when  she  said  those  words. 

"  You  asked  me  to  do  you  a  favor,"  wrote  Jnnius 

296 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Keswick,  "and,  very  much  against  my  inclination, 
and  against  what  is  now  my  judgment,  I  did  it.  I 
now  ask  you  to  do  me  a  favor,  and  I  do  not  think  you 
should  refuse  it.  I  ask  you  not  to  communicate  with 
Miss  March  until  I  have  seen  her,  and  have  obtained 
from  her  an  explanation  of  the  acceptance  in  ques 
tion.  I  have  a  right  to  this  explanation,  and  I  feel 
confident  that  it  will  be  given  to  me.  You  ask  me 
what  I  truly  believe  Miss  March  meant  by  her  mes 
sage  to  you.  I  answer  that  I  do  not  know,  but  I  in 
tend  to  find  out  what  she  meant,  and  as  soon  as  I  do 
so,  I  will  write  to  you.  I  think,  therefore,  considering 
what  you  have  asked  me  to  do,  and  what  you  have 
written  to  me  about  what  I  have  done,  that  you  can 
not  refuse  to  abstain  from  any  further  action  in  the 
matter  until  I  am  enabled  to  answer  you.  I  cannot 
leave  Washington  immediately,  but  I  shall  go  to  Mid* 
branch  in  a  very  few  days." 

This  letter  was  very  far  from  being  a  categorical 
answer  to  Lawrence's  questions,  and  it  disappointed 
and  somewhat  annoyed  that  gentleman ;  but  after  he 
had  read  it  for  the  second  time,  and  carefully  con 
sidered  it,  he  put  it  in  his  pocket  and  said  to  himself: 
"  This  ends  all  discussion  of  this  subject.  Mr.  Keswick 
may  be  right  in  the  position  he  takes,  or  he  may  be 
wrong.  He  may  go  to  Midbranch,  he  may  get  his 
explanation,  and  he  may  send  it  to  me.  But,  with 
out  any  regard  to  what  he  does,  or  says,  or  writes,  I 
shall  go  to  Miss  March  as  soon  as  I  am  able  to  use  my 
ankle  j  and  whether  she  be  at  her  uncle's  house,  or 
whether  she  has  gone  to  New  York  or  to  any  other 
place,  I  shall  see  her  and  myself  obtain  from  her  an 
explanation  of  this  acceptance.  This  is  due  to  me  as 

297 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

well  as  to  Mr.  Keswick,  and  if  he  thinks  he  ought  to 
get  it  for  himself,  I  also  think  I  ought  to  get  it  for 
myself." 

The  good  results  of  Lawrence's  great  care  in  regard 
to  his  injured  ankle  soon  began  to  show  themselves. 
The  joint  had  slowly  but  steadily  regained  its  strength 
and  usual  healthy  condition,  and  Lawrence  now  found 
that  he  could  walk  about  without  the  assistance  of  his 
rude  crutch.  He  was  still  prudent,  however,  and  took 
but  very  short  walks,  and  in  these  he  leaned  upon  his 
trusty  cane.  The  charming  autumn  days  which  often 
come  to  Virginia  in  late  October  and  early  November 
were  now  at  their  best.  Day  after  day  the  sun  shone 
brightly  j  but  there  was  in  the  air  an  invigorating  cool 
ness  which  made  its  radiance  something  to  be  sought 
for  and  not  avoided. 

It  was  just  after  dinner,  and  it  was  Saturday  after 
noon,  when  Miss  Annie  announced  that  she  was  going 
to  see  old  Aunt  Patsy,  whom  she  had  somewhat  neg 
lected  of  late. 

"May  I  go  with  you?"  said  Lawrence. 

Miss  Annie  shook  her  head  doubtfully.  "  I  should 
be  very  glad  to  have  your  company,"  she  said,  "  but  I 
am  afraid  it  will  be  entirely  too  much  of  a  walk  for 
you.  The  days  are  so  short  that  the  sun  will  be  low 
before  we  could  get  back,  and  if  you  should  be  tired? 
it  would  not  do  for  you  to  sit  down  and  rest,  at  that 
time  of  day." 

"  I  believe,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  my  ankle  is  quite 
strong  enough  for  me  to  walk  to  Aunt  Patsy's  and 
back  without  sitting  down  to  rest.  I  would  be  very 
glad  to  go  with  you,  and  I  would  like,  too,  to  see  that 
venerable  colored  woman  again." 

298 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"Well,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "if  you  really  think  you 
can  walk  so  far,  it  will  be  very  nice  indeed  to  have 
you  go ;  but  you  ought  to  feel  very  sure  that  it  will 
not  hurt  you." 

"Come  along,"  said  Lawrence,  taking  up  his  hat 
and  cane. 

After  a  man  has  been  shut  up  as  Lawrence  had 
been,  a  pleasant  ramble  like  this  is  a  most  delightful 
change,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  manifest  his  pleas 
ure.  This  touched  the  very  sensitive  soul  of  his  com 
panion,  and  with  such  a  sparkle  of  talk  did  she  evince 
her  gratification  that  almost  any  one  would  have  been 
able  to  see  that  she  was  a  young  lady  who  had  an 
earnest  sympathy  with  those  who  had  undergone  afflic 
tions,  but  were  now  freed  from  them. 

Aunt  Patsy  was  glad  to  see  her  visitors,  particularly 
glad,  it  seemed,  to  see  Mr.  Croft.  She  was  quite  lo 
quacious,  considering  the  great  length  of  her  days  and 
the  proverbial  shortness  of  her  tongue. 

"  Why,  Aunt  Patsy,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "  you  seem  to 
have  grown  younger  since  I  last  saw  you !  I  do  be 
lieve  you  are  getting  old  backward !  What  are  you 
going  to  do  with  that  dress-body?" 

"  Pse  lookin7  at  dis  h'yar,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  turning 
over  the  well-worn  body  of  a  black  woollen  dress 
which  lay  in  her  lap  instead  of  the  crazy-quilt  on 
which  she  was  usually  occupied,  "to  see  if  it's  done 
gib  way  in  any  ob  de  seams  or  de  elbers.  'Twas  a 
right  smart  good  frock  once,  an*  Pse  gwine  to  wear  it 
ter-morrer." 

"To-morrow!"  exclaimed  Annie.  "You  don't 
mean  to  say  you  are  going  to  church ! " 

"  Dat's  jes  wot  Pse  gwine  to  do,  Miss  Annie.  Pse 
299 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

gwine  to  church  to-morrer  mawnin'.  Dar's  gwine  to 
be  a  big  preachin'.  Brudder  Enick  Hines  is  to  be 
dar,  an'  dey  tell  me  dey  allus  has  pow'ful  wakenings 
when  Brudder  Enick  preaches.  I  ain't  ever  heared 
Brudder  Enick  yit,  cos  he  was  a  little  boy  when  I 
use  to  go  to  chu'ch." 

"  Will  it  be  in  the  old  church,  in  the  woods  just 
beyond  Hewlett's  f  "  asked  Annie. 

"  Eight  dar,"  replied  Aunt  Patsy,  with  an  approv 
ing  glance  towards  the  young  lady.  "  You  'members 
dem  ar  places  fas' -rate,  Miss  Annie.  Why  you  didn't 
tole  me,  when  you  fus'  come  h'yar,  dat  you  was  dat 
little  Miss  Annie  dat  I  use  to  tote  roun'  afore  I  gin 
up  walkin'  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that's  too  long  a  story,"  said  Miss  Annie,  with 
a  laugh.  "You  know,  I  hadn't  seen  Aunt  Keswick 
then.  I  couldn't  go  about  introducing  myself  to  other 
people  before  I  had  seen  her." 

Aunt  Patsy  gave  a  sagacious  nod  of  her  head.  "  I 
reckon  you  thought  she'd  be  right  much  disgruntled 
when  she  heared  you  was  mar'ed,  an'  you  wanted  to 
tell  her  yo'se'f.  But  I'se  pow'ful  glad  dat  it's  all  right 
now.  You-all  don'  know  how  pow'ful  glad  I  is." 
And  she  looked  at  Mr.  Croft  and  Miss  Annie  with  a 
glance  as  benignant  as  her  time-set  countenance  was 
capable  of. 

"But,  Aunt  Patsy,"  said  Annie,  quite  willing  to 
change  the  conversation,  although  she  did  not  know 
the  import  of  the  old  woman's  last  remark,  "I 
thought  you  were  not  able  to  go  out." 

The  old  woman  gave  a  little  chuckle.  "  Dat's  wot 
eberybody  thought ;  an',  to  tell  you  de  truf,  Miss 
Annie,  I  thought  so  too.  But  ef  I  was  strong  'nuf  to 

300 


THE  LATE  MRS.   NULL 

go  to  de  pos'  -office,— an'  I  did  dat,  Miss  Annie,  an'  not 
long  ago,  nuther,— I  reckon  I'se  strong  'nuf  to  go  to 
chu'ch ;  an'  Uncle  Isham  is  a-comin'  wid  de  ox- cart  to 
take  me  to-morrer  mawnin'.  Dar'll  be  pow'ful  wak- 
enin's,  an'  I  ain't  seen  de  Jerus'lum  Jump  in  a  mighty 
long  time." 

"Are  they  going  to  have  the  Jerusalem  Jump?" 
asked  Miss  Annie. 

"  Oh,  yaas,  Miss  Annie,"  said  the  old  woman  ;  "  dey's 
sartin  shuh  to  hab  dat  when  dey  gits  wakened." 

"  I  should  so  like  to  see  the  Jerusalem  Jump  again," 
said  Miss  Annie.  "  I  saw  it  once,  when  I  was  a  little 
girl.  Did  you  ever  see  it!"  she  said,  turning  to  Mr. 
Croft. 

"  I  have  not,"  he  answered.  "  I  never  even  heard 
of  it." 

"Suppose  we  go  to-morrow  and  hear  Brother 
Enoch,"  she  said. 

"  I  should  like  it  very  much,"  answered  Lawrence. 

"Aunt  Patsy,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "would  there  be 
any  objection  to  our  going  to  your  church  to-mor 
row  ?  " 

The  old  woman  gave  her  head  a  little  shake. 
"  Dunno,"  she  said.  "  As  a  gin'ral  rule  we  don't  like 
white  folks  at  our  preachin's.  Dey's  got  dere  chu'ches 
an'  dere  ways,  an'  we's  got  our  chu'ches  an'  our  ways. 
But  den,  it's  dif  rent  wid  you-all.  An'  you-all's  not 
like  white  folks  in  gin'ral,  an'  specially  strawngers. 
You-all  isn't  strawngers  now.  I  don't  reckon  dar'll 
be  no  'jections  to  your  comin',  ef  you  set  solemn  ;  an'  I 
know  you'll  do  dat,  Miss  Annie,  cos  you  did  it  when 
you  was  a  little  gal.  An'  I  reckon  it'll  be  de  same 
wid  him?"  looking  at  Mr.  Croft. 

301 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Miss  Annie  assured  her  that  she  and  her  companion 
would  be  certain  to  "  set  solemn/'  and  that  they  would 
not  think  of  such  a  thing  as  going  to  church  and 
behaving  indecorously. 

"  Dere  is  white  folks/'  said  Aunt  Patsy,  "wot  comes 
to  a  cullud  chu'ch  fur  nothin'  else  but  to  larf.  De 
debbil  gits  dem  folks ;  but  dat  don'  do  us  no  good,  Miss 
Annie,  an'  we'd  rudder  dey  stay  away.  But  you-all's 
not  dat  kin'.  I  knows  dat,  sartin  shuh." 

When  the  two  had  taken  leave  of  the  old  woman, 
and  Miss  Annie  had  gone  out  of  the  door,  Aunt  Patsy 
leaned  very  far  forward,  and  stretching  out  her  long 
arm,  seized  Mr.  Croft  by  the  skirt  of  his  coat.  He 
stepped  back,  quite  surprised,  and  then  she  said  to 
him,  in  a  low  but  very  earnest  voice :  "  I  reckon  dat 
dat  ar  sprain  ankle  was  nuffin  but  a  acciden' ;  but  you 
look  out,  sah,  you  look  out !  Hab  you  got  dem  little 
shoes  handy  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "I  have  them  in  my 
trunk." 

"Keep  'em  whar  you  kin  put  your  han>  on  'em," 
said  Aunt  Patsy,  impressively.  "  You  may  want  'em 
yit.  You  min'  my  wuhds." 

"  I  shall  be  sure  to  remember,"  said  Lawrence,  as  he 
hastened  out  to  rejoin  Annie. 

"What  in  the  world  had  Aunt  Patsy  to  say  to 
you?"  asked  that  somewhat  surprised  young  lady. 

Then  Lawrence  told  her  how  some  time  before 
Aunt  Patsy  had  given  him  a  pair  of  blue  shoes,  which 
she  said  would  act  as  a  preventive  charm  in  case 
Mrs.  Keswick  should  ever  wish  to  do  him  harm,  and 
that  she  had  now  called  him  back  to  remind  him  not 
to  neglect  this  means  of  personal  protection.  "I 

302 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

can't  imagine,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  your  aunt  would 
ever  think  of  such  a  thing  as  doing  me  a  harm,  or  how 
those  little  shoes  would  prevent  her,  if  she  wanted  to  j 
but  I  suppose  Aunt  Patsy  is  crack-brained  on  some 
subjects,  and  so  I  thought  it  best  to  humor  her,  and 
took  the  shoes." 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Miss  Annie,  after  walking  a 
little  distance  in  silence,  "that  I  am  afraid  Aunt 
Patsy  has  done  a  dreadful  thing,  and  one  I  never 
should  have  suspected  her  of.  Aunt  Keswick  had  a 
little  baby  once,  and  it  died  very  young.  She  keeps 
its  clothes  in  a  box,  and  I  remember  when  I  was  a 
little  girl  that  she  once  showed  them  to  me,  and  told 
me  I  was  to  take  the  place  of  that  little  girl,  and  that 
frightened  me  dreadfully,  because  I  thought  that  I 
would  have  to  die,  and  have  my  clothes  put  in  a  box. 
I  recollect  perfectly  that  there  was  a  pair  of  little 
blue  shoes  among  these  clothes,  and  Aunt  Patsy  must 
have  stolen  them." 

"  That  surprises  me,"  said  Lawrence.  "  I  supposed, 
from  what  I  had  heard  of  the  old  woman,  that  she 
was  perfectly  honest." 

"  So  she  is,"  said  Annie.  "  She  has  been  a  trusted 
servant  in  our  family  nearly  all  her  life.  But  some 
negroes  have  very  queer  ideas  about  taking  certain 
things,  and  I  suppose  Aunt  Patsy  had  some  particular 
reason  for  taking  those  shoes,  for  of  course  they  could 
be  of  no  value  to  her." 

"I  am  very  sorry,"  said  Lawrence,  "that  such 
sacred  relics  should  have  come  into  my  possession, 
but  I  must  admit  that  I  would  not  like  to  give  them 
back  to  your  aunt." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Annie,  "  that  would  never  do  5  and 
303 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

I  wouldn't  dare  to  try  to  find  her  box  and  put  them 
in  it.  It  would  seem  like  a  desecration  for  any  hand 
but  her  own  to  touch  those  things." 

"  That  is  true/7  said  Lawrence,  "  and  you  might  get 
yourself  into  a  lot  of  trouble  by  endeavoring  to  repair 
the  mischief.  Before  I  leave  here,  we  may  think  of 
some  plan  of  disposing  of  the  little  trotters.  It  might 
be  well  to  give  them  back  to  Aunt  Patsy  and  tell  her 
to  restore  them." 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Miss  Annie,  with  a  slowness 
of  reply  and  an  irrelevance  of  demeanor  which  indi 
cated  she  was  not  thinking  of  the  words  she  was 
speaking. 

The  sun  was  now  very  near  the  horizon,  and  that 
evening  coolness  which,  in  the  autumn,  comes  on  so 
quickly  after  the  sunshine  fades  out  of  the  air,  made 
Lawrence  give  a  little  shrug  with  his  shoulders.  He 
proposed  that  they  should  quicken  their  pace,  and  as 
his  companion  made  no  objection,  they  soon  reached 
the  house. 

The  next  day  being  Sunday,  breakfast  was  rather 
later  than  usual,  and  as  Lawrence  looked  out  on  the 
bright  morning,  with  the  mists  just  disengaging  them 
selves  from  the  many-hued  foliage  which  crowned  the 
tops  of  the  surrounding  hilb,  and  on  the  recently 
risen  sun,  hanging  in  an  atmosphere  of  gray  and  lilac, 
with  the  smile  of  Indian  summer  on  its  face,  he 
thought  he  would  like  to  take  a  stroll  before  that 
meal ;  but  either  the  length  of  his  walk  on  the  pre 
vious  day,  or  the  rapidity  of  the  latter  portion  ot  it, 
had  been  rather  too  much  for  the  newly  recovered 
strength  of  his  ankle,  which  now  felt  somewhat  stiff 
and  sore.  When  he  mentioned  this  at  the  breakfast- 

304 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

table,  he  received  a  good  deal  of  condolence  from  the 
two  ladies,  especially  Mrs.  Keswick;  and  at  first  it 
was  thought  that  it  might  be  well  for  him  to  give  up 
his  proposed  attendance  at  the  negro  church.  But  to 
this  Lawrence  strongly  objected,  for  he  very  much 
desired  to  see  some  of  the  peculiar  religious  services 
of  the  negroes.  He  had  been  talking  on  the  subject 
the  evening  before  with  Mrs.  Keswick,  who  had  told 
him  that  in  this  part  of  the  country,  which  lay  in  the 
"  black  belt "  of  Virginia,  where  the  negro  population 
had  always  been  thickest,  these  ceremonies  were  more 
characteristic  of  the  religious  disposition  of  the  Afri 
can  than  in  those  sections  of  the  State  where  the 
white  race  exerted  a  greater  influence  upon  the  man 
ners  and  customs  of  the  colored  people. 

"  But  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  walk  much,"  said 
Miss  Annie.  "We  can  take  the  spring-wagon,  and 
you  can  go  with  us,  aunt." 

The  old  lady  permitted  herself  a  little  grin.  "  When 
I  go  to  church,"  she  said,  "I  go  to  a  white  folks' 
church,  and  try  to  see  what  I  can  of  white  folks' 
Christianity,  though  I  must  say  that  Christianity  of 
the  other  color  is  often  just  as  good,  as  far  as  works 
go.  But  it  is  natural  that  a  stranger  should  want  to 
see  what  kind  of  services  the  colored  people  have,  so 
you  two  might  as  well  get  into  the  spring- wagon  and 
go  along." 

"But  shall  we  not  deprive  you  of  the  vehicle?" 
said  Lawrence. 

"I  never  go  to  church  in  the  spring-wagon,"  said 
the  old  lady,  "so  long  as  I  am  able  to  walk.  And, 
besides,  this  is  not  our  Sunday  for  preaching." 

It  seemed  to  Lawrence  that  an  elderly  person  who 
305 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

went  about  in  a  purple  calico  sunbonnet,  and  with  an 
umbrella  of  the  same  material,  might  go  to  church  in 
a  wheelbarrow,  so  far  as  appearances  were  concerned  5 
but  he  had  long  ceased  to  wonder  at  Mrs.  Keswick's 
idiosyncrasies. 

"  I  remember  very  well,"  said  Miss  Annie,  after  the 
old  lady  had  left  the  table,  which  she  always  did  as 
soon  as  she  had  finished  a  meal,  "when  Aunt  Kes- 
wick  used  to  go  to  church  in  a  big  family  carriage, 
which  is  now  sleeping  itself  to  pieces  out  there  in  the 
barn.  But  then  she  had  a  pair  of  big  gray  horses, 
one  of  them  named  Doctor  and  the  other  Colonel. 
But  now  she  has  only  one  horse,  and  I  am  going  to 
tell  Uncle  Isham  to  harness  that  one  up  before  he 
goes  to  church  himself.  You  know,  he  is  to  take 
Aunt  Patsy  in  the  ox-cart,  so  he  will  have  to  go 
early." 

They  went  to  the  negro  church  in  the  spring- 
wagon,  Lawrence  driving  the  jogging  sorrel,  and  Miss 
Annie  on  the  seat  beside  him.  When  they  reached 
the  old  frame  edifice  in  the  woods  beyond  Hewlett's, 
they  found  gathered  there  quite  a  large  assemblage, 
for  this  was  one  of  those  very  attractive  occasions 
called  a  "big  preaching."  Horses  and  mules,  and 
wagons  of  various  kinds,  many  of  the  latter  containing 
baskets  of  refreshments,  were  standing  about  under 
the  trees  j  and  Mrs.  Keswick's  cart  and  oxen,  tethered 
to  a  little  pine-tree,  gave  proof  that  Aunt  Patsy  had 
arrived.  The  inside  of  the  church  was  nearly  full, 
and  outside,  around  the  door,  stood  a  large  number  of 
men  and  boys.  The  white  visitors  were  looked  upon 
with  some  surprise,  but  way  was  made  for  them  to 
approach  the  door,  and  as  soon  as  they  entered  the 

306 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

building  two  of  the  officers  of  the  church  came  for 
ward  to  show  them  to  one  of  the  uppermost  seats. 
But  this  honor  Miss  Annie  strenuously  declined.  She 
preferred  a  seat  near  the  open  door,  and  therefore  she 
and  Mr.  Croft  were  given  a  bench  in  that  vicinity,  of 
which  they  had  sole  possession. 

To  Lawrence,  who  had  never  seen  anything  of  the 
sort,  the  services  which  now  began  were  exceedingly 
interesting;  and  as  Annie  had  not  been  to  a  negro 
church  since  she  was  a  little  girl,  and  very  seldom 
then,  she  gave  very  earnest  and  animated  attention  to 
what  was  going  on.  The  singing,  as  it  always  is 
among  the  negroes,  was  powerful  and  melodious,  and 
the  long  prayer  of  Brother  Enoch  Hines  was  one  of 
those  spirited  and  emotional  statements  of  personal 
condition,  and  wild  and  ardent  supplication,  which 
generally  pave  the  way  for  a  most  powerful  awakening 
in  an  assemblage  of  this  kind.  Another  hymn,  sung 
in  more  vigorous  tones  than  the  first  one,  warmed  up 
the  congregation  to  such  a  degree  that  when  Brother 
Hines  opened  the  Bible,  and  made  preparations  for 
his  discourse,  he  looked  out  upon  an  audience  as  anx 
ious  to  be  moved  and  stirred  as  he  was  to  move  and 
stir  it.  The  sermon  was  intended  to  be  a  long  one, 
for,  had  it  been  otherwise,  Brother  Hines  had  lost  his 
reputation ;  and  therefore  the  preacher,  after  a  few 
prefatory  statements,  delivered  in  a  grave  and  solemn 
manner,  plunged  boldly  into  the  midst  of  his  exhorta 
tions,  knowing  that  he  could  go  either  backward  or 
forward,  presenting,  with  equal  acceptance,  fresh 
subject-matter  or  that  already  used,  so  long  as  his 
strength  held  out. 

He  had  not  preached  half  an  hour  before  his  hear- 
307 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

ers  were  so  stirred  and  moved  that  a  majority  of  them 
found  it  utterly  impossible  to  merely  sit  still  and  listen. 
In  different  ways  their  awakening  was  manifested  : 
some  began  to  sing  in  a  low  voice ;  others  gently 
rocked  their  bodies  5  while  fervent  ejaculations  of 
various  kinds  were  heard  from  all  parts  of  the  church. 
From  this  beginning  arose  gradually  a  scene  of  re 
ligious  activity  such  as  Lawrence  had  never  ima 
gined.  Each  individual  allowed  his  or  her  fervor  to 
express  itself  according  to  the  method  which  best 
pleased  the  worshipper.  Some  kept  to  their  seats 
and  listened  to  the  words  of  the  preacher,  interrupting 
him  occasionally  by  fervent  ejaculations ;  others  sang 
and  shouted,  sometimes  standing  up,  clapping  their 
hands,  and  stamping  their  feet ;  while  a  large  propor 
tion  of  the  able-bodied  members  left  their  seats  and 
pushed  their  way  forward  to  the  wide,  open  space 
which  surrounded  the  preacher's  desk,  and  prepared 
to  engage  in  the  exhilarating  ceremony  of  the  "  Jeru 
salem  Jump." 

Two  concentric  rings  were  formed  around  the 
preacher,  the  inner  one  composed  of  women,  the 
outer  one  of  men,  the  faces  of  those  forming  the  inner 
ring  being  turned  towards  those  in  the  outer.  As 
soon  as  all  were  in  place,  each  brother  reached  forth 
his  hand  and  took  the  hand  of  the  sister  opposite  to 
him,  and  then  each  couple  began  to  jump  up  and 
down  violently,  shaking  hands  and  singing  at  the  top 
of  their  voices.  After  about  a  minute  of  this,  the 
two  circles  moved,  one  one  way  and  one  another,  so 
that  each  brother  found  himself  opposite  a  different 
sister.  Hands  were  again  immediately  seized,  and 
the  jumping,  hand-shaking,  and  singing  went  on. 

308 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Minute  by  minute  the  excitement  increased;  faster 
the  worshippers  jumped,  and  louder  they  sang. 
Through  it  all  Brother  Enoch  Hines  kept  on  with 
his  sermon.  It  was  very  difficult  now  to  make  him 
self  heard,  and  the  time  for  explanation  or  elucida 
tion  had  long  since  passed;  all  he  could  do  was  to 
shout  forth  certain  important  and  moving  facts,  and 
this  he  did  over  and  over  again,  holding  his  hand  at 
the  side  of  his  mouth,  as  if  he  were  hailing  a  vessel  in 
the  wind.  Much  of  what  he  said  was  lost  in  the  din 
of  the  jumpers,  but  ever  and  anon  could  be  heard 
ringing  through  the  church  the  announcement :  "  De 
wheel  ob  time  is  a-turnin?  roun' ! " 

In  a  group  by  themselves,  in  an  upper  corner  of  the 
congregation,  were  four  or  five  very  old  women,  who 
were  able  to  manifest  their  pious  enthusiasm  in  no 
other  way  than  by  rocking  their  bodies  backward 
and  forward,  and  singing  with  their  cracked  voices 
a  grewsome  and  monotonous  chant.  This  rude  song 
had  something  of  a  wild  and  uncivilized  nature,  as  if 
it  had  come  down  to  these  old  people  from  the  savage 
rites  of  their  African  ancestors.  They  did  not  sing  in 
unison,  but  each  squeaked  or  piped  out  her  "Yi, 
wiho,  yi,  hoo  ! "  according  to  the  strength  of  her  lungs 
and  the  degree  of  her  exaltation.  Prominent  among 
these  was  old  Aunt  Patsy ;  her  little  black  eyes  spar 
kling  through  her  great  iron-bound  spectacles ;  her 
head  and  body  moving  in  unison  with  the  wild  air  of 
the  unintelligible  chant  she  sang ;  her  long,  skinny 
hands  clapping  up  and  down  upon  her  knees ;  while 
her  feet,  incased  in  their  great  green-baize  slippers, 
unceasingly  beat  time  upon  the  floor. 

So  many  persons  being  absent  from  their  seats,  the 
309 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

group  of  old  women  was  clearly  visible  to  Annie  and 
Lawrence,  and  Aunt  Patsy  also  could  easily  see  them. 
"Whenever  her  head,  in  its  ceaseless  moving  from  side 
to  side,  allowed  her  eyes  to  fall  upon  the  two  white 
visitors,  her  ardor  and  fervency  increased,  and  she 
seemed  to  be  expressing  a  pious  gratitude  that  Miss 
Annie  and  he  whom  she  supposed  to  be  her  husband 
were  still  together  in  peace  and  safety. 

Annie  was  much  affected  by  all  she  saw  and  heard. 
Her  face  was  slightly  pale,  and  occasionally  she  was 
moved  by  a  little  nervous  tremor.  Mr.  Croft,  too, 
was  very  attentive.  His  soul  was  not  moved  to  en 
thusiasm,  and  he  did  not  feel,  as  his  companion  did 
now  and  then,  that  he  would  like  to  jump  up  and 
join  in  the  dancing  and  the  shouting  j  but  the  scene 
made  a  very  strong  impression  upon  him. 

Around  and  around  went  the  two  rings  of  men  and 
women,  jumping,  singing,  and  hand-shaking.  Out 
from  the  centre  of  them  came  the  stentorian  shout : 
"  De  wheel  ob  time  is  a-turnin'  roun> ! "  From  all 
parts  of  the  church  rose  snatches  of  hymns,  exultant 
shouts,  groans,  and  prayers ;  and,  in  the  corner,  the 
shrill  chants  of  the  old  women  were  fitfully  heard 
through  the  storm  of  discordant  worship. 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  wild  din  and  hubbub,  the 
soul  of  Aunt  Patsy  looked  out  from  the  habitation 
where  it  had  dwelt  so  long,  and,  without  giving  the 
slightest  notice  to  any  one,  or  attracting  the  least 
attention  by  its  movements,  it  silently  slipped 
away. 

The  old  habitation  of  the  soul  still  sat  in  its  chair, 
but  no  one  noticed  that  it  no  longer  sang,  or  beat 
time  with  its  hands  and  feet. 

310 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Not  long  after  this,  Lawrence  looked  round  at  his 
companion,  and  noticed  that  she  was  slightly  trem 
bling.  "Don't  you  think  we  have  had  enough  of 
this  ?  "  he  whispered. 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  and  they  rose  and  went  out. 
They  thought  they  were  the  first  who  had  left. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

WHEN  Mr.  Croft  and  Miss  Annie  got  into  the  spring- 
wagon,  and  the  head  of  the  sorrel  was  turned  away 
from  the  church,  Lawrence  looked  at  his  watch,  and 
remarked  that,  as  it  was  still  quite  early,  there  might 
be  time  for  a  little  drive  before  going  back  to  the 
house  for  dinner.  The  face  of  the  young  lady  beside 
him  was  still  slightly  pale,  and  the  thought  came  to 
him  that  it  would  be  very  well  for  her  if  her  mind 
could  be  diverted  from  the  abnormally  inspiriting 
scene  she  had  just  witnessed. 

"  Dinner  will  be  late  to-day,"  she  said,  "  for  I  saw 
Letty  doing  her  best  among  the  Jerusalem  Jumpers." 

"  Very  well,"  said  he,  "  we  will  drive.  And  now, 
where  shall  we  go  t " 

"  If  we  take  the  cross-road  at  the  store,"  said  Miss 
Annie,  "  and  go  on  for  about  half  a  mile,  we  can  turn 
into  the  woods,  and  then  there  is  a  beautiful  road 
through  the  trees  which  will  bring  us  out  on  the 
other  side  of  Aunt  Keswick's  house.  Junius  took  me 
that  way  not  long  ago." 

So  they  turned  at  the  store,  much  to  the  disgust  of 
the  plodding  sorrel,  who  thought  he  was  going  directly 
home,  and  they  soon  reached  the  road  that  led  through 
the  woods.  This  was  hard  and  sandy,  as  are  many  of 
the  roads  through  the  forests  in  that  part  of  the  coun- 

312 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

try,  and  it  would  have  been  a  very  good  driving  road, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  occasional  protrusion  of  tree- 
roots,  which  gave  the  wheels  a  little  bump,  and  for  the 
branches  which,  now  and  then,  hung  down  somewhat 
too  low  for  the  comfort  of  a  lady  and  gentleman  rid 
ing  in  a  rather  high  spring-wagon  without  a  cover. 
But  Lawrence  drove  slowly,  and  so  the  root  bumps 
were  not  noticed  j  and  when  the  low-hanging  boughs 
were  on  his  side,  he  lifted  them  so  that  his  companion's 
head  could  pass  under,  and  when  they  happened  to 
be  on  her  side,  Annie  ducked  her  head,  and  her  hat 
was  never  brushed  off.  But  at  times  they  drove 
quite  a  distance  without  overhanging  boughs,  and  the 
pine-trees,  surrounded  by  their  smooth  carpet  of 
brown  spines,  gave  forth  a  spicy  fragrance  in  the 
warm  but  sparkling  air ;  the  oak-trees  stood  up  still 
dark  and  green,  while  the  chestnuts  were  all  dressed 
in  rich  yellow,  with  the  chinquapin  bushes  by  the 
roadside  imitating  them  in  color,  as  they  tried  to  do 
in  fruit.  Sometimes  a  spray  of  purple  flowers  could 
be  seen  among  the  trees,  and  great  patches  of  sunlight, 
which  here  and  there  came  through  the  thinning 
foliage,  fell,  now  upon  the  brilliantly  scarlet  leaves  of 
a  sweet-gum,  and  now  upon  the  polished  and  brown- 
red  dress  of  a  neighboring  black-gum. 

The  woods  were  very  quiet.  There  was  no  sound 
of  bird  or  insect,  and  the  occasional  hare,  or  "  Molly 
Cottontail,"  as  Annie  delightedly  called  it,  who 
hopped  across  the  road,  made  no  noise  at  all.  A 
gentle  wind  among  the  tops  of  the  taller  trees  made 
a  sound  as  of  a  distant  sea  j  but,  besides  this,  little  was 
heard  but  the  low,  crunching  noise  of  the  wheels,  and 
the  voices  of  Lawrence  and  Miss  Annie. 

313 


THE   LATE   MRS.  NULL 

Beaching  a  place  where  the  road  branched,  Law 
rence  stopped  the  horse,  and  looked  up  each  leafy 
lane.  They  were  completely  deserted.  White  people 
seldom  walked  abroad  at  this  hour  on  Sunday,  and 
the  negroes  of  the  neighborhood  were  at  church.  "  Is 
not  this  a  frightfully  lonely  place?"  he  said.  "One 
might  imagine  himself  in  a  desert." 

"  I  like  it,"  replied  Annie.  "  It  is  so  different  from 
the  wild,  exciting  tumult  of  that  church.  I  am  glad 
you  took  me  away.  At  first  I  would  not  have  missed 
it  for  the  world,  but  there  seemed  to  come  into  the 
stormy  scene  something  oppressive  and  almost  terri 
fying." 

"  I  am  glad  I  took  you  away,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  your  impression  was  not  alto 
gether  natural.  I  thought  that,  amid  all  that  mad 
enthusiasm,  you  were  over-excited,  not  depressed.  A 
solemn  solitude  like  this  would,  to  my  thinking,  be 
much  more  likely  to  lower  your  spirits.  I  don't  like 
solitude  myself,  and  therefore  I  suppose  it  is  that  I 
thought  an  impressible  nature  like  yours  would  find 
something  sad  in  the  loneliness  of  these  silent  woods." 

Annie  turned  and  fixed  on  him  her  large  gray  eyes. 
"  But  I  am  not  alone,"  she  said. 

As  Lawrence  looked  into  her  eyes  he  saw  that  they 
were  as  clear  as  the  purest  crystal,  and  that  he  could 
look  through  them  straight  into  her  soul,  and  there 
he  saw  that  this  woman  loved  him.  The  vision  was 
as  sudden  as  if  it  had  been  a  night  scene  lighted  up 
by  a  flash  of  lightning,  but  it  was  as  clear  and  plain  as 
if  it  had  been  that  same  scene  under  the  noonday  sun. 

There  are  times  in  the  life  of  a  man  when  the  god 
dess  of  Reasonable  Impulse  raises  her  arms  above  her 

814 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"head  and  allows  herself  a  little  yawn.  Then  she 
takes  off  her  crown  and  hangs  it  on  the  back  of  her 
throne ;  after  which  she  rests  her  sceptre  on  the  floor, 
and,  rising,  stretches  herself  to  her  full  height,  and 
goes  forth  to  take  a  long,  refreshing  walk  by  the 
waters  of  Unreflection.  Then  her  minister,  Pru 
dence,  stretches  himself  upon  a  bench,  and,  with  his 
handkerchief  over  his  eyes,  composes  himself  for  a 
nap.  Discretion,  Worldly  Wisdom,  and  other  trusted 
officers  of  her  court,  and  even,  sometimes,  that  agile 
page  called  Memory,  no  sooner  see  their  royal  mis 
tress  depart,  than,  by  various  doors,  they  leave  the 
palace  and  wander  far  away.  Then,  silently,  with 
sparkling  eyes  and  parted  lips,  comes  that  fair  being, 
Unthinking  Love.  She  puts  one  foot  upon  the  lower 
step  of  the  throne ;  she  looks  about  her ;  and,  with  a 
quick  bound,  she  seats  herself.  Upon  her  tumbled 
curls  she  hastily  puts  the  crown ;  with  her  small 
white  hand  she  grasps  the  sceptre  ;  and  then,  rising, 
waves  it,  and  issues  her  commands.  The  crowd  of 
emotions  which  serve  as  her  satellites  seize  the  great 
seal  from  the  sleeping  Prudence,  and  the  new  Queen 
reigns ! 

All  this  now  happened  to  Lawrence.  Never  before 
had  he  looked  into  the  eyes  of  a  woman  who  loved 
him ;  and  leaning  over  towards  this  one,  he  put  his 
arm  around  her  and  drew  her  towards  him.  "And 
never  shall  you  be  alone,"  he  said. 

She  looked  up  at  him  with  tears  starting  to  her 
eyes,  and  then  she  put  her  head  against  his  breast. 
She  was  too  happy  to  say  anything,  and  she  did  not 
try. 

It  was  about  a  minute  after  this  that  the  sober 

315 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

sorrel,  who  took  no  interest  in  what  had  occurred  be 
hind  him,  and  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  his  stable  at 
home,  started  in  an  uncertain  and  hesitating  way, 
and,  finding  that  he  was  not  checked,  began  to  move 
onward.  Lawrence  looked  up  from  the  little  head 
upon  his  breast,  and  called  out,  "  Whoa ! "  To  this, 
however,  the  sorrel  paid  no  attention.  Lawrence 
then  put  forth  his  right  hand  to  grasp  the  reins ;  but 
having  lately  forgotten  all  about  them,  they  had 
fallen  out  of  the  spring- wagon,  and  were  now  drag 
ging  upon  the  ground.  It  was  impossible  for  him  to 
reach  them,  and  so,  seizing  the  whip,  he  endeavored 
with  its  aid  to  hook  them  up.  Failing  in  this,  he  was 
about  to  jump  out  and  run  to  the  horse's  head ;  but 
perceiving  his  intention,  Annie  seized  his  arm. 
"Don't  you  do  it!"  she  exclaimed.  "You'll  ruin 
your  ankle ! " 

Lawrence  could  not  but  admit  to  himself  that  he 
was  not  in  condition  to  execute  any  feats  of  agility, 
and  he  also  felt  that  Annie  had  a  very  charming  way 
of  holding  fast  to  his  arm  as  if  she  had  a  right  to 
keep  him  out  of  danger.  And  now  the  sorrel  broke 
into  the  jog-trot  which  was  his  usual  pace.  "It  is 
very  provoking,"  said  Lawrence.  "I  don't  think  I 
ever  allowed  myself  to  drop  the  reins  before." 

"It  doesn't  make  the  slightest  difference,"  said 
Annie,  comfortingly.  "This  old  horse  knows  the 
road  perfectly  well,  and  he  doesn't  need  a  bit  of 
driving.  He  will  take  us  home  just  as  safely  as  if 
you  held  the  reins  j  and  now,  don't  you  try  to  get 
them,  for  you  will  only  hurt  yourself." 
v  "  Very  well,"  said  Lawrence,  putting  his  arm  around 
her  again ;  "  I  am  resigned.  But  I  think  you  are  very 

316 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

brave  to  sit  so  quiet  and  composed,  under  the  circum 
stances." 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  smile.  "Such  a  little 
circumstance  don't  count  just  now,"  she  said.  "  You 
must  stop  that,"  she  added  presently,  "when  we  get 
to  the  edge  of  the  woods." 

Before  long  they  came  out  into  the  open  country, 
and  found  themselves  in  a  lane  which  led  by  a  wide 
circuit  to  the  road  passing  Mrs.  Keswick's  house.  The 
old  sorrel  certainly  behaved  admirably  :  he  held  back 
when  he  descended  a  declivity ;  he  walked  over  the 
rough  places ;  he  trotted  steadily  where  the  road  was 
smooth. 

"  It  seems  like  our  fate,"  said  Annie,  who  now  sat 
up  without  an  arm  around  her,  the  protecting  woods 
having  been  left  behind ;  "  he  just  takes  us  along  with 
out  our  having  anything  to  do  with  it." 

"  He  is  not  much  of  a  horse,"  said  Lawrence,  clasp 
ing,  in  an  unobservable  way,  the  little  hand  which 
lay  by  his  side,  "  but  the  fate  is  charming." 

Fortunately,  there  was  no  one  upon  the  road  to 
notice  the  reinless  plight  in  which  these  two  young 
people  found  themselves,  and  they  were  quite  as  well 
satisfied  as  if  they  had  been  doing  their  own  driving. 
After  a  little  period  of  thought,  Annie  turned  an 
earnest  face  to  Lawrence,  and  she  said :  "  Do  you 
know  that  I  never  believed  that  you  were  really  in 
love  with  Eoberta  March." 

Lawrence  squeezed  her  hand,  but  did  not  reply. 
He  knew  very  well  that  he  had  loved  Roberta  March, 
and  he  was  not  going  to  lie  about  it. 

"  I  thought  so,"  she  continued,  "  because  I  did  not 
believe  that  any  one  who  was  truly  in  love  would 

317 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

want  to  send  other  people  about  to  propose  for  him, 
as  you  did." 

"  That  is  not  exactly  the  state  of  the  case,"  he  said, 
"but  we  must  not  talk  of  those  things  now 5  that  is 
all  past  and  gone." 

"But  if  there  ever  was  any  love,"  she  persisted, 
"  are  you  sure  that  it  is  all  gone  ?  " 

"Gone,"  he  answered  earnestly,  "as  utterly  and 
completely  as  the  days  of  last  summer." 

And  now  the  sorrel,  of  his  own  accord,  stopped  at 
Mrs.  Keswick's  outer  gate  5  and  Lawrence,  getting 
down,  opened  the  gate,  took  up  the  reins,  and  drove 
to  the  house  in  quite  a  proper  way. 

When  Mr.  Croft  helped  Annie  to  descend  from  the 
spring-wagon,  he  did  not  squeeze  her  hand,  nor  ex 
change  with  her  any  tender  glances,  for  old  Mrs. 
Keswick  was  standing  at  the  top  of  the  steps.  "  Have 
you  seen  Letty  f  "  she  asked. 

"  Letty  ?  "  said  Miss  Annie.  "  Oh,  yes,"  she  added, 
as  if  she  suddenly  remembered  that  such  a  person  ex 
isted  ;  "  Letty  was  at  church,  and  she  was  very  active." 

"Well,"  said  the  old  lady,  "she  must  have  taken 
more  interest  in  the  exercises  than  you  did,  for  it  is  long 
past  the  time  when  I  told  her  she  must  be  home." 

"I  do  not  believe,  madam,"  said  Lawrence,  "that 
any  one  could  have  taken  more  interest  in  the  exer 
cises  of  this  morning  than  we  have." 

At  this,  Annie  could  not  help  giving  him  a  little 
look  which  would  have  provoked  reflection  in  the 
mind  of  the  old  lady,  had  she  not  been  very  earnestly 
engaged  in  gazing  out  into  the  road,  in  the  hope  of 
seeing  Letty. 

When  Lawrence  had  gone  into  the  office,  and  had 
318 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

closed  the  door  behind  him,  he  stood  in  a  meditative 
mood  before  the  empty  fireplace.  He  was  making 
inquiries  of  himself  in  regard  to  what  he  had  just 
done.  He  was  not  accusing  himself,  nor  indulging 
in  regrets;  he  was  simply  investigating  the  matter. 
Here  he  stood,  a  man  accepted  by  two  women.  If 
he  had  ever  heard  of  any  other  man  in  a  like  condi 
tion,  he  would  have  called  that  man  a  scoundrel  ;  and 
yet  he  did  not  deem  himself  a  scoundrel. 

The  facts  in  the  case  were  easy  enough  to  under 
stand.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  had  looked 
into  the  eyes  of  a  woman  who  loved  him,  and  he  had 
discovered,  to  his  utter  surprise,  that  he  loved  her. 
There  had  been  no  plan— no  prudent  outlook  into  her 
nature  and  feelings,  no  cautious  insight  into  his  own. 
He  had  taken  part  in  a  most  unpremeditated  act  of 
pure  and  simple  love ;  and  that  it  was  real  and  pure 
love  on  each  side  he  no  more  doubted  than  he 
doubted  that  he  lived.  And  yet,  had  he  been  an  im 
postor  when,  on  that  hill  over  there,  he  told  Koberta 
March  he  loved  her?  No,  he  had  been  honest;  he 
had  loved  her ;  and  since  the  time  that  he  had  been 
roused  to  action  by  the  discovery  of  Junius  Keswick's 
intentions  to  renew  his  suit,  it  had  been  a  love  full  of 
a  rare  and  alluring  beauty.  But  its  charm,  its  fasci 
nation,  its  very  existence,  had  disappeared  in  the  first 
flash  of  his  knowledge  that  Annie  Peyton  loved  him. 
Had  his  love  for  Koberta  been  a  perfect  one,  had  he 
been  sure  that  she  returned  it,  then  it  could  not  have 
been  overthrown ;  but  it  had  gone,  and  a  love  com 
plete  and  perfect  stood  in  its  place.  He  had  seen 
that  he  was  loved,  and  he  loved.  That  was  all ;  but  it 
would  stand  forever. 

319 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

This  was  the  state  of  the  case ;  and  now  Lawrence 
set  himself  to  discover  if,  in  all  ways,  he  had  acted 
truly  and  honestly.  He  had  been  accepted  by  Miss 
March,  but  what  sort  of  acceptance  was  it?  Should 
he,  as  a  man  true  to  himself,  accept  such  an  accept 
ance  f  What  was  he  to  think  of  a  woman  who,  very 
angry,  as  he  had  been  informed,  had  sent  him  a  mes 
sage  which  meant  everything  in  the  world  to  him,  if 
it  meant  anything,  and  had  then  dashed  away  with 
out  allowing  him  a  chance  to  speak  to  her,  or  even 
giving  him  a  nod  of  farewell !  The  last  thing  she  had 
really  said  to  him  in  this  connection  were  those  cruel 
words  on  Pine  Top  Hill  with  which  she  had  asked 
him  to  choose  a  spot  in  which  to  be  rejected.  Could 
he  consider  himself  engaged?  Would  a  woman  who 
cared  for  him  act  towards  him  in  such  a  manner? 
After  all,  was  that  acceptance  anything  more  than  the 
result  of  pique?  And  could  he  not,  quite  as  justly, 
accept  the  rejection  which  she  had  professed  herself 
anxious  to  give  him  ? 

A  short  time  before,  Lawrence  had  done  his  best 
to  explain  to  his  advantage  these  peculiarities  of  his 
status  in  regard  to  Miss  March.  He  had  said  to  him 
self  that  she  had  threatened  to  reject  him  because  she 
wished  to  punish  him,  and  he  had  intended  to  implore 
her  pardon,  and  expected  to  receive  it.  Over  and 
over  again  had  he  argued  with  himself  in  this  strain  ; 
and  yet,  in  spite  of  it  all,  he  had  not  been  able  to 
bring  himself  into  a  state  of  mind  in  which  he  could 
sit  down  and  write  to  her  a  letter  which,  in  his  esti 
mation,  would  be  certain  to  seal  and  complete  the 
engagement.  "  How  very  glad  I  am,"  he  now  said  to 
himself,  "  that  I  never  wrote  that  letter ! "  And  this 

320 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

was  the  only  decision  at  which  he  had  arrived  when 
he  heard  Mrs.  Keswick  calling  to  him  from  the 
yard. 

He  immediately  went  to  the  door,  when  the  old 
lady  informed  him  that,  as  Letty  had  not  come  back, 
and  did  not  appear  to  be  intending  to  come  back,  and 
that  as  none  of  the  other  servants  on  the  place  had 
made  their  appearance,  he  might  as  well  come  into 
the  house  and  try  to  satisfy  his  hunger  on  what  cold 
food  she  and  Mrs.  Null  had  managed  to  collect. 

The  most  biting  and  spicy  condiments  of  the  little 
meal  to  which  the  three  sat  down  were  supplied  by 
Mrs.  Keswick,  who  reviled  without  stint  those  utterly 
thoughtless  and  heedless  colored  people  who,  once  in 
the  midst  of  their  crazy  religious  exercises,  totally 
forgot  that  they  owed  any  duty  whatever  to  those 
who  employed  them.  Lawrence  and  Annie  did  not 
say  much,  but  there  was  something  peculiarly  piquant 
in  the  way  in  which  Annie  brought  and  poured  out 
the  tea  she  had  made,  and  which,  with  the  exception 
of  the  old  lady's  remarks,  was  the  only  warm  part  of 
the  repast ;  and  there  was  an  element  of  buoyancy  in 
the  manner  of  Mr.  Croft  as  he  took  his  cup  to  drink 
the  tea.  Although  he  said  little  at  this  meal,  he 
thought  a  great  deal,  listening  not  at  all  to  Mrs.  Kes- 
wick's  tirades.  "What  a  charmingly  inconsiderate 
affair  this  has  been ! "  he  said  to  himself.  "  Nothing 
planned,  nothing  provided  for  or  against;  all  spon 
taneous  and  from  our  very  hearts.  I  never  thought 
to  tell  her  that  she  must  say  nothing  to  her  aunt 
until  we  had  agreed  how  everything  should  be  ex 
plained,  and  I  don't  believe  the  idea  that  it  is  neces 
sary  to  say  anything  to  anybody  has  entered  her 

321 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

mind.  But  I  must  keep  my  eyes  away  from  her,  if  I 
don't  want  to  bring  on  a  premature  explosion." 

Whatever  might  be  the  result  of  the  reasoning 
which  this  young  man  had  to  do  with  himself,  it  was 
quite  plain  that  he  was  abundantly  satisfied  with 
things  as  they  were. 

It  was  beginning  to  be  dark  when  Letty  and  Uncle 
Isham  returned  and  explained  why  they  had  been  so 
late  in  returning. 

Old  Aunt  Patsy  had  died  in  church. 


322 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

"  LAWKENCE,"  said  Annie,  on  the  forenoon  of  the  next 
day,  as  they  were  sitting  together  in  the  parlor  with 
the  house  to  themselves,  Mrs.  Keswick  having  gone  to 
Aunt  Patsy's  cabin  to  supervise  proceedings  there, 
"  Lawrence,  don't  you  feel  glad  that  we  did  not  have 
a  chance  to  speak  to  dear  old  Aunt  Patsy  about  those 
little  shoes?  Perhaps  she  had  forgotten  that  she  had 
stolen  them,  and  so  went  to  heaven  without  that  sin 
on  her  soul." 

"  That  is  a  very  comfortable  way  of  looking  at  it," 
said  Lawrence,  "  but  wouldn't  it  be  better  to  assume 
that  she  did  not  steal  them?  " 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  said  Annie,  "  but  that  is  not  easy 
to  do.  But  don't  let  us  think  anything  more  about 
that.  And  don't  you  feel  very  glad  that  the  poor  old 
creature,  who  looked  so  happy  as  she  sat  singing  and 
clapping  her  hands  on  her  knees,  didn't  die  until  after 
we  had  left  the  church?  If  it  had  happened  while 
we  were  there,  I  don't  believe—" 

"Don't  believe  what?"  asked  Lawrence. 

"Well,  that  you  now  would  be  sitting  with  your 
arm  on  the  back  of  my  chair." 

Lawrence  was  quite  sure,  from  what  had  been  told 
him,  that  Aunt  Patsy's  demise  had  taken  place  before 

323 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

they  left  the  church.  But  he  did  not  say  so  to  Annie. 
He  merely  took  his  arm  from  the  back  of  her  chair 
and  placed  it  around  her. 

"  And  do  you  know,"  said  she,  "  that  Letty  told  me 
something,  this  morning,  that  is  so  funny,  and  yet  in  a 
certain  way  so  pathetic,  that  it  made  me  laugh  and 
cry  both.  She  said  that  Aunt  Patsy  always  thought 
that  you  were  Mr.  Null." 

At  this  Lawrence  burst  out  laughing;  but  Annie 
checked  him  and  went  on :  "  And  she  told  Letty  in 
church,  when  she  saw  us  two  come  in,  that  she  be 
lieved  she  could  die  happy  now,  since  she  had  seen 
Miss  Annie  married  to  such  a  pert  gentleman,  and 
that  it  looked  as  if  old  miss  had  got  over  her  grudge 
against  him." 

"And  didn't  Letty  undeceive  her!"  asked  Law 
rence. 

"  No ;  she  said  it  would  be  a  pity  to  upset  the  mind 
of  such  an  old  woman,  and  she  didn't  do  it." 

"  Then  the  good  Aunt  Patsy  died,"  said  Lawrence, 
"  thinking  I  was  that  wretched  tramp  of  a  bone-dust 
pedler  which  the  fancy  of  your  aunt  has  conjured  up. 
That  explains  the  interest  the  venerable  colored 
woman  took  in  me.  It  is  now  quite  easy  to  under 
stand  ;  for  if  your  aunt  abused  your  mythical  husband 
to  everybody  as  she  did  to  me,  I  don't  wonder  Aunt 
Patsy  thought  I  was  in  danger." 

"  Poor  old  woman ! "  said  Annie,  looking  down  at 
the  floor 5  "I  am  so  glad  that  we  helped  her  to  die 
happy." 

"  As  she  was  obliged  to  anticipate  the  truth,"  said 
Lawrence,  "  in  order  to  derive  any  comfort  from  it,  I 
am  glad  she  did  it.  But  although  I  am  delighted, 

324 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

more  than  my  words  can  tell  you,  to  take  the  place  of 
your  Mr.  Null,  you  must  not  expect  me  to  have  any 
of  his  attributes." 

"  Now  just  listen  to  me,  sir,"  said  Annie.  "  I  don't 
want  you  to  say  one  word  against  Mr.  Null.  If  it  had 
not  been  for  that  good  Freddy,  things  would  have 
been  very  different  from  what  they  are  now.  If  you 
care  for  me  at  all,  you  owe  me  entirely  to  Freddy 
Null." 

"Entirely?"  asked  Lawrence. 

"Of  course  I  mean  in  regard  to  opportunities  of 
finding  out  things  and  saying  them.  If  Aunt  Keswick 
had  supposed  I  was  only  Annie  Peyton,  she  would  not 
have  allowed  Mr.  Croft  to  interfere  with  her  plans  for 
Junius  and  me.  I  expected  Mr.  Null  to  be  of  service 
to  me,  but  no  one  could  have  imagined  that  he  would 
have  brought  about  anything  like  this." 

"  Blessed  be  Null ! "  exclaimed  Lawrence. 

Annie  asked  him  to  please  be  more  careful,  for 
how  did  he  know  that  one  of  the  servants  might  not 
be  sweeping  the  front  porch,  and  of  course  she  would 
look  in  at  the  windows. 

"  But,  my  dear  child,"  said  Lawrence,  pushing  back 
his  chair  to  a  prudent  distance,  "we  must  seriously 
consider  this  Null  business.  We  shall  have  to  inform 
your  aunt  of  the  present  state  of  affairs,  and  before 
we  do  that  we  must  explain  what  sort  of  person 
Frederick  Null,  Esquire,  really  was— I  am  not  willing 
to  admit  that  he  exists,  even  as  a  myth." 

"  Oh,  dear  !  oh,  dear  ! "  exclaimed  Annie.  "  We  shall 
have  a  dreadful  time !  When  Aunt  Keswick  knows 
that  there  never  was  any  Mr.  Null,  and  then  hears 
that  you  and  I  are  engaged,  it  will  throw  her  into  the 

325 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

most  dreadful  state  of  mind  that  she  has  ever  been  in, 
in  her  life ;  and  father  has  told  me  of  some  of  the 
awful  family  earthquakes  that  Aunt  Keswick  has 
brought  about  when  things  went  wrong  with  her." 

"  We  must  be  very  cautious,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and 
neither  of  us  must  say  a  word,  or  do  anything  that 
may  arouse  her  suspicions,  until  we  have  settled  upon 
the  best  possible  method  of  making  the  facts  known 
to  her.  The  case  is  indeed  a  complicated  one." 

"And  what  makes  it  more  so,"  said  Annie,  "is 
Aunt  Keswick's  belief  that  you  are  in  love  with  Miss 
March,  and  that  you  want  to  get  a  chance  to  propose 
to  her.  She  does  think  that,  doesn't  she  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "I  must  admit  that  she 
does." 

"  And  she  must  be  made  to  understand  that  that  is 
entirely  at  an  end,"  continued  Annie.  "  All  this  will 
be  a  very  difficult  task,  Lawrence,  and  I  don't  see 
how  it  is  to  be  done." 

"  But  we  shall  do  it,"  he  answered  j  "  and  we  must 
not  forget  to  be  very  prudent  until  it  is  fully  settled 
how  we  shall  do  it." 

When  Lawrence  retired  to  his  room,  and  sat  down 
to  hold  that  peculiar  court  in  which  he  was  judge, 
jury,  lawyers,  and  witnesses,  as  well  as  the  prisoner  at 
the  bar,  he  had  to  do  with  a  case  a  great  deal  more 
complicated  and  difficult  than  that  which  perplexed 
the  mind  of  Miss  Annie  Peyton.  He  began  by  the 
very  unjudicial  act  of  pledging  himself,  to  himself, 
that  nothing  should  interfere  with  this  new,  this  true 
love.  In  spite  of  all  that  might  be  said,  done,  Or 
thought,  Annie  Peyton  should  be  his  wife.  There 
was  no  indecision  whatever  in  regard  to  the  new 

326 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

love ;  the  only  question  was,  "  What  is  to  be  done 
about  the  old  one! " 

Lawrence  could  not  admit,  for  a  moment,  that  he 
could  have  spoken  to  Roberta  March  as  he  had  spoken 
if  he  had  not  loved  her ;  but  he  could  now  perceive 
that  that  love  had  been  in  no  small  degree  impaired 
and  weakened  by  the  manner  of  its  acceptance.  The 
action  of  Miss  March  on  her  last  day  here  had  much 
more  chilled  his  ardor  than  her  words  on  Pine  Top 
Hill.  He  had  not  before  examined  thoroughly  into 
the  condition  of  that  ardor  after  the  departure  of  the 
lady,  but  it  was  plain  enough  now. 

There  was,  therefore,  no  doubt  whatever  in  regard 
to  his  love  for  Miss  March ;  he  was  quite  ready  and 
able  to  lay  that  aside.  But  what  about  her  accept 
ance  of  it?  How  could  he  lay  that  aside  f 

This  was  the  real  case  before  the  court.  The  wit 
nesses  could  give  no  available  testimony ;  the  lawyers 
argued  feebly ;  the  jury  disagreed ;  and  Lawrence,  in 
his  capacity  of  judge,  dismissed  the  case. 

In  his  efforts  to  conduct  his  mind  through  the  chan 
nels  of  law  and  equity,  Lawrence  had  not  satisfied 
himself,  and  his  thoughts  began  to  be  moved  by  what 
might  be  termed  his  military  impulses.  "I  made  a 
charge  into  the  camp,"  he  said,  with  a  little  downward 
drawing  of  the  corners  of  his  mouth,  "  and  I  did  not 
capture  the  commander-in-chief.  And  now  I  intend 
to  charge  out  again." 

He  sat  down  to  his  table  and  wrote  the  following  note  : 

"MY  DEAR  Miss  MARCH:  I  have  been  waiting  for  a 
good  many  days,  hoping  to  receive,  either  from  you  or 
Mr.  Keswick,  an  explanation  of  the  message  you  sent 
to  me  by  him.  I  now  believe  that  it  will  be  impossible 

327 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

to  give  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  that  message.  1 
therefore  recur  to  our  last  private  interview,  and  wish 
to  say  to  you  that  I  am  ready,  at  any  time,  to  meet  you 
under  either  a  sycamore  or  a  cherry-tree." 

And  then  he  signed  it,  and  addressed  it  to  Miss 
March  at  Midbranch.  This  being  done,  he  put  on  his 
hat  and  stepped  out  to  see  if  a  messenger  could  be 
found  to  carry  the  letter  to  its  destination,  for  he  did 
not  wish  to  wait  for  the  semi-weekly  mail.  Near  the 
house  he  met  Annie. 

"What  have  you  been  doing  all  this  time?"  she 
asked. 

"  I  have  been  writing  a  letter,"  he  said,  "  and  am 
now  looking  for  some  colored  boy  who  will  carry  it 
for  me." 

"  Whom  is  it  to  f  "  she  asked. 

"  Miss  March,"  was  his  answer. 

"  Let  me  see  it,"  said  Annie. 

At  this  Lawrence  looked  at  her  with  wide-open 
eyes,  and  then  he  laughed.  Never,  since  he  had  been 
a  child,  had  there  been  any  one  who  would  have 
thought  of  such  a  thing  as  asking  to  see  a  private 
letter  which  he  had  written  to  some  one  else  j  and 
that  this  young  girl  should  stand  up  before  him  with 
her  straightforward,  expectant  gaze,  and  make  such  a 
request  of  him,  in  the  first  instance  amused  him. 

"You  don't  mean  to  say,"  she  added,  "that  you 
would  write  anything  to  Miss  March  which  you  would 
not  let  me  see  !  " 

"  This  letter,"  said  Lawrence,  "  was  written  for  Miss 
March,  and  no  one  else.  It  is  simply  the  winding  up 
of  that  old  affair." 

328 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

" Give  it  to  me,"  said  Annie,  "and  let  me  see  how 
you  wound  it  up." 

Lawrence  smiled,  looked  at  her  in  silence  for  a 
moment,  and  then  handed  her  the  letter. 

"  I  don't  want  you  to  think,"  she  said,  as  she  took 
it,  "that  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  show  me  all  the 
letters  you  write.  But  when  you  write  one  to  a  lady 
like  Miss  March,  I  want  to  know  what  you  say  to  her." 
And  then  she  read  the  letter.  When  she  had  finished, 
she  turned  to  Lawrence  and,  with  her  countenance 
full  of  amazement,  exclaimed :  "I  haven't  the  least 
idea  in  the  world  what  all  this  means  !  What  message 
did  she  send  you?  And  why  should  you  meet  her 
under  a  tree?" 

These  questions  went  so  straight  to  the  core  of  the 
affair,  and  were  so  peculiarly  difficult  to  answer,  that 
Lawrence,  for  the  moment,  found  himself  in  the  very 
unusual  position  of  not  knowing  what  to  say ;  but  he 
presently  remarked :  "  Do  you  think  it  is  of  any  ad 
vantage  to  either  of  us  to  talk  over  this  affair,  which 
is  now  past  and  gone  ?  " 

"  I  don't  want  to  talk  over  any  of  it,"  said  Annie, 
very  promptly,  "  except  the  part  of  it  which  is  referred 
to  in  this  letter  j  but  I  want  to  know  about  that." 

"  That  covers  the  most  important  part  of  it,"  said 
Lawrence. 

"  Very  good,"  she  answered,  st  and  so  you  can  tell  it 
to  me.  And,  now  that  I  think  of  it,  you  can  tell  me, 
at  the  same  time,  exactly  why  you  wanted  to  find  my 
cousin  Junius.  I  think  I  ought  to  know  that,  too." 

"  Very  well,  then,"  replied  Lawrence ;  "  if  you  have 
the  least  feeling  about  it,  I  will  relate  the  wkole 
affair,  from  beginning  to  end." 

329 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  That,  perhaps,  will  be  the  best  thing  to  do,  after 
all,"  said  Annie.  "  And  suppose  we  take  a  walk  over 
the  fields,  and  then  you  can  tell  it  without  being 
interrupted." 

But  Lawrence  did  not  feel  that  his  ankle  would 
allow  him  to  accept  this  invitation,  for  it  had  hurt 
him  a  good  deal  since  his  walk  to  Aunt  Patsy's  cabin. 
He  said  so  to  Annie,  and  excited  in  her  the  deepest 
feelings  of  commiseration. 

"  You  must  take  no  more  walks  of  any  length,"  she 
exclaimed,  "  until  you  are  quite,  quite  well !  It  was 
my  fault  that  you  took  that  tramp  to  Aunt  Patsy's. 
I  ought  to  have  known  better.  But  then,"  she  said, 
looking  up  at  him,  "you  were  not  under  my  charge. 
I  shall  take  very  good  care  of  you  now." 

"For  my  part,"  he  said,  "I  am  glad  I  have  this 
little  relapse,  for  now  I  can  stay  here  longer." 

"I  am  very,  very  sorry  for  the  relapse,"  said  she, 
"but  awfully  glad  for  the  stay.  And  you  mustn't 
stand  another  minute.  Let  us  go  and  sit  in  the  arbor. 
The  sun  is  shining  straight  into  it,  and  that  will  make 
it  all  the  more  comfortable  while  you  are  telling  me 
about  those  things." 

They  sat  down  in  the  arbor,  and  Lawrence  told 
Annie  the  whole  history  of  his  affair  with  Miss  March, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  ;  that  is,  if  the  end  had 
been  reached  j  although  he  intimated  no  doubt  to  her 
upon  this  point.  This  avowal  he  had  never  expected 
to  make.  In  fact,  he  had  never  contemplated  its  pos 
sibility.  But  now  he  felt  a  certain  satisfaction  in  tell 
ing  it.  Every  item,  as  it  was  related,  seemed  thrown 
aside  forever.  "  And  now,  then,  my  dear  Annie,"  he  said, 
when  he  had  finished,  "what  do  you  think  of  all  that?" 

330 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"Well,"  she  said,  "in  the  first  place,  I  am  still 
more  of  the  opinion  than  I  was  before  that  you  never 
were  really  in  love  with  her.  You  did  entirely  too 
much  planning  and  investigating  and  calculating ; 
and  when,  at  last,  you  did  come  to  the  conclusion  to 
propose  to  her,  you  did  not  do  it  so  much  of  your  own 
accord  as  because  you  found  that  another  man  would 
be  likely  to  get  her  if  you  did  not  make  a  pretty- 
quick  move  yourself.  And  as  to  that  acceptance,  I 
don't  think  anything  of  it  at  all.  I  believe  she  was* 
very  angry  at  Junius  because  he  consented  to  bring^ 
your  messages,  when  he  ought  to  have  been  his  own 
messenger,  and  that  she  gave  him  that  answer  just  to 
rack  his  soul  with  agony.  I  don't  believe  she  ever 
dreamed  that  he  would  take  it  to  you.  And,  to  tell 
the  simple  truth,  I  believe,  from  what  I  saw  of  her 
that  morning,  that  she  was  thinking  very  little  of  you, 
and  a  great  deal  of  him.  To  be  sure,  she  was  fiery 
angry  with  him,  but  it  is  better  to  be  that  way  with 
a  lover  than  to  pay  no  attention  to  him  at  all." 

This  was  a  view  of  the  case  which  had  never  struck 
Lawrence  before,  and  although  it  was  not  very  flat 
tering  to  him,  it  was  very  comforting.  He  felt  that 
it  was  extremely  likely  that  this  young  woman  had 
been  able  to  truthfully  divine,  in  a  case  in  which  he 
had  failed,  the  motives  of  another  young  woman. 
Here  was  a  further  reason  for  congratulating  himself 
that  he  had  not  written  to  Miss  March. 

"  And  as  to  the  last  part  of  the  letter,"  said  Annie, 
"you  are  not  going  under  any  cherry-tree,  or  syca 
more  either,  to  be  refused  by  her.  What  she  said  to 
you  was  quite  enough  for  a  final  answer,  without  any 
signing  or  sealing  under  trees  or  anywhere  else.  I 

331 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

think  the  best  thing  that  can  be  done  with  this  pre 
cious  epistle  is  to  tear  it  up." 

Lawrence  was  amused  by  the  piquant  earnestness 
of  this  decision.  "  But  what  am  I  to  do  !  "  he  asked. 
"I  can't  let  the  matter  rest  in  this  unfinished  and 
unsatisfactory  condition." 

"You  might  write  to  her,"  said  Annie,  "and  tell 
her  that  you  have  accepted  what  she  said  to  you  on 
Pine  Top  Hill  as  a  conclusive  answer,  and  that  you 
now  take  back  everything  you  ever  said  on  the  sub 
ject  you  talked  of  that  day.  And  do  you  think  it 
would  be  well  to  put  in  anything  about  your  being 
otherwise  engaged  ?  " 

At  this  Lawrence  laughed.  "I  think  that  expres 
sion  would  hardly  answer,"  he  said,  "  but  I  will  write 
another  note,  and  we  shall  see  how  you  like  it." 

"That  will  be  very  well,"  said  the  happy  Annie, 
"  and  if  I  were  you  I'd  make  it  as  gentle  as  I  could. 
It's  of  no  use  to  hurt  her  feelings." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  want  to  do  that,"  said  Lawrence  j  "and 
now  that  we  have  the  opportunity,  let  us  consider  the 
question  of  informing  your  aunt  of  our  engagement." 

"  Oh,  dear,  dear,  dear  ! "  said  Annie,  "  that  is  a  great 
deal  worse  than  informing  Miss  March  that  you  don't 
want  to  be  engaged  to  her." 

"  That  is  true,"  said  Lawrence.  "  It  is  not  by  any 
means  an  easy  piece  of  business.  But  we  might  as 
well  look  it  square  in  the  face,  and  determine  what  is 
to  be  done  about  it." 

"  It  is  simple  enough,  just  as  we  look  at  it,"  said 
Annie.  "All  we  have  to  do  is  to  say  that,  knowing 
that  Aunt  Keswick  had  written  to  my  father  that  she 
was  determined  to  make  a  match  between  Cousin 

332 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Junius  and  me,  I  was  afraid  to  come  down  here  with 
out  putting  up  some  insurmountable  obstacle  between 
me  and  a  man  that  I  had  not  seen  since  I  was  a  little 
girl.  Of  course  I  would  say  very  decidedly  that  I 
wouldn't  have  married  him  if  I  hadn't  wanted  to ; 
but  then,  considering  Aunt  Keswick's  very  open  way 
of  carrying  out  her  plans,  it  would  have  been  very 
unpleasant,  and  indeed  impossible,  for  me  to  be  in  the 
house  with  him  unless  she  saw  that  there  was  no  hope 
of  a  marriage  between  us ;  and  for  this  reason  I  took 
the  name  of  Mrs.  Null,  or  Mrs.  Nothing,  and  came 
down  here  secure  under  the  protection  of  a  husband 
who  never  existed.  And  then,  we  could  say  that  you 
and  I  were  a  good  deal  together,  and  that,  although 
you  had  supposed,  when  you  came  here,  that  you 
were  in  love  with  Miss  March,  you  had  discovered  that 
this  was  a  mistake,  and  that  afterwards  we  fell  in  love 
with  each  other,  and  are  now  engaged.  That  would 
be  a  straightforward  statement  of  everything,  just  as 
it  happened ;  but  the  great  trouble  is,  how  are  we 
going  to  tell  it  to  Aunt  Keswick  ?  " 

"You  are  right,"  said  Lawrence.  "How  are  we 
going  to  tell  it?" 

"  It  need  not  be  told ! "  thundered  a  strong  voice 
close  to  their  ears.  And  then  there  was  a  noise  of 
breaking  latticework  and  cracking  vines,  and  through 
the  back  part  of  the  arbor  came  an  old  woman  wear 
ing  a  purple  sunbonnet,  and  beating  down  all  obsta 
cles  before  her  with  a  great  purple  umbrella.  "  You 
needn't  tell  it ! "  cried  Mrs.  Keswick,  standing  in  the 
middle  of  the  arbor,  her  eyes  glistening,  her  form 
trembling,  and  her  umbrella  quivering  in  the  air. 
"You  needn't  tell  it!  It's  told!" 

333 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Graphic  and  vivid  descriptions  have  been  written 
of  those  furious  storms  of  devastating  wind  and-  del 
uging  rain  which  suddenly  sweep  away  the  beauty 
of  some  fair  tropical  scene ;  and  we  have  read,  too,  of 
dreadful  cyclones  and  tornadoes,  which  rush,  in  mad 
rage,  over  land  and  sea,  burying  great  ships  in  a  vast 
tumult  of  frenzied  waves,  or  crushing  to  the  earth 
forests,  buildings,  everything  that  may  lie  in  their 
awful  paths :  but  no  description  could  be  written 
which  could  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  storm  which 
now  burst  upon  Lawrence  and  Annie.  The  old  lady 
had  seen  these  two  standing  together  in  the  yard,  con 
versing  most  earnestly ;  she  had  then  seen  Annie  read 
a  letter  that  Lawrence  gave  her ;  and  then  she  had 
perceived  the  two,  in  close  converse,  enter  the  arbor 
and  sit  down  together,  without  the  slightest  regard  for 
the  rights  of  Mr.  Null. 

Mrs.  Keswick  looked  upon  all  this  as  somewhat 
more  out-of-the-way  than  the  usual  proceedings  of 
these  young  people,  and  there  came  into  her  mind 
a  curiosity  to  know  what  they  were  saying  to  each 
other.  So  she  immediately  repaired  to  the  large 
garden,  and  quietly  made  her  way  to  the  back  of  the 
arbor,  in  which  advantageous  position  she  heard  the 
whole  of  Lawrence's  story  of  his  love-affair  with  Miss 
March,  Annie's  remarks  upon  the  same,  and  the  facts 
of  this  young  lady's  proposed  confession  in  regard  to 
her  marriage  with  Mr.  Null  and  her  engagement  to 
Mr.  Croft. 

Then  she  burst  in  upon  them.  The  tornado  and  the 
cyclone  raged ;  the  thunder  rolled  and  crashed ;  and 
the  white  lightning  of  her  wrath  flashed  upon  the  two 
as  if  it  would  scathe  and  annihilate  them  as  they  stood 

334 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

before  her.  Neither  of  them  had  ever  known  or 
imagined  anything  like  this.  It  had  been  long  since 
Mrs.  Keswick  had  had  an  opportunity  of  exercising 
that  power  of  vituperative  torment  which  had  driven 
a  husband  to  the  refuge  of  a  reverted  pistol,  which 
had  banished  for  life  relatives  and  friends,  and 
which,  in  the  shape  of  a  promissory  curse,  had  held 
apart  those  who  would  have  been  husband  and  wife  j 
and  now,  like  the  long-stored-up  venom  of  a  serpent, 
it  burst  out  with  the  direful  force  given  by  concentra 
tion  and  retention. 

At  the  first  outburst  Annie  had  turned  pale  and 
shrunk  back,  but  now  she  clung  to  the  side  of  Law 
rence,  who,  although  his  face  was  somewhat  blanched 
and  his  form  trembled  a  little  with  excitement,  still 
stood  up  bravely,  and  endeavored,  but  ineffectually, 
to  force  upon  the  old  lady's  attention  a  denial  of  her 
bitter  accusations.  With  face  almost  as  purple  as  the 
bonnet  she  wore  or  the  umbrella  she  shook  in  the 
air,  the  old  lady  first  addressed  her  niece.  With 
scorn  and  condemnation  she  spoke  of  the  deceit  which 
the  young  girl  had  practised  upon  her.  But  this  part 
of  the  exercises  was  soon  over.  She  seemed  to  think 
that,  although  nothing  could  be  viler  than  Annie's 
conduct  towards  her,  still,  the  fact  that  Mr.  Null  no 
longer  existed  put  Annie  again  within  her  grasp  and 
control,  and  made  it  unnecessary  to  say  much  to  her 
on  this  occasion.  It  was  upon  Lawrence  that  the 
main  cataract  of  her  fury  poured.  It  would  be  wrong 
to  say  that  she  could  not  find  words  to  express  her  ire 
towards  him.  She  found  plenty  of  them,  and  used 
them  all.  He  had  deceived  her  most  abominably ;  he 
had  come  there  the  expressed  and  avowed  lover  of 

335 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Miss  March ;  lie  had  connived  with  her  niece  in  her 
deceit  j  he  had  taken  advantage  of  all  the  opportu 
nities  she  gave  him  to  attain  the  legitimate  object  of 
his  visit,  to  inveigle  into  his  snares  this  silly  and 
absurd  young  woman ;  and  he  had  dared  to  interfere 
with  the  plans  which,  by  day  and  by  night,  she  had 
been  maturing  for  years.  In  vain  did  Lawrence  en 
deavor  to  answer  or  explain.  She  stopped  not,  nor 
listened  to  one  word. 

"  And  you  need  not  imagine,"  she  screamed  at  him, 
"that  you  are  going  to  turn  round,  when  you  like, 
and  marry  anybody  you  please.  You  are  engaged, 
body  and  soul,  to  Eoberta  March,  and  have  no  right, 
by  laws  of  man  or  Heaven,  to  marry  anybody  else.  If 
you  breathe  a  word  of  love  to  any  other  woman,  it 
makes  you  a  vile  criminal  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  and 
renders  you  liable  to  prosecution,  sir  !  Your  affianced 
bride  knows  nothing  of  what  her  double-faced  snake 
of  a  lover  is  doing  here,  but  she  shall  know  speedily. 
That  is  a  matter  which  I  take  into  my  own  hands. 
Out  of  my  way,  both  of  you ! " 

And  with  these  words  she  charged  by  them,  and 
rushed  out  of  the  arbor  and  into  the  house. 


336 


CHAPTER  XXVH 

THEY  were  not  a  happy  pair,  Lawrence  Croft  and 
Annie  Peyton,  as  they  stood  together  in  the  arbor 
after  old  Mrs.  Keswick  had  left  them.  They  were 
both  a  good  deal  shaken  by  the  storm  they  had  passed 
through. 

"Lawrence,"  said  Annie,  looking  up  to  him  with 
her  large  eyes  full  of  earnestness,  "  there  surely  is  no 
truth  in  what  she  said  about  your  being  legally  bound 
to  Miss  March!" 

"None  in  the  least,"  said  Lawrence.  "No  man, 
under  the  circumstances,  would  consider  himself  en 
gaged  to  a  woman.  At  any  rate,  there  is  one  thing 
which  I  wish  you  to  understand,  and  that  is  that  I 
am  not  engaged  to  Miss  March,  and  that  I  am  engaged 
to  you.  No  matter  what  is  said  or  done,  you  and  I 
belong  to  each  other." 

Annie  made  no  answer,  but  she  pressed  his  hand 
tightly  as  she  looked  up  into  his  face.  He  kissed  her 
as  she  stood,  notwithstanding  his  belief  that  old  Mrs. 
Keswick  was  fully  capable  of  bounding  down  on  him, 
umbrella  in  hand,  from  an  upper  window. 

"What  do  you  think  she  is  going  to  do?"  Annie 
asked  presently. 

"  My  dear  Annie,"  said  he,  "  I  do  not  believe  that 
337 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

there  is  a  person  on  earth  who  could  divine  what  your 
Aunt  Keswick  is  going  to  do.  As  to  that,  we  must 
simply  wait  and  see.  But,  for  my  part,  I  know  what 
I  must  do.  I  must  write  a  letter  to  Miss  March,  and 
inform  her,  plainly  and  definitely,  that  I  have  ceased 
to  be  a  suitor  for  her  hand.  I  think,  also,  that  it  will 
be  well  to  let  her  know  that  we  are  engaged?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Annie,  "  for  she  will  be  sure  to  hear  it 
now.  But  she  will  think  it  is  a  very  prompt  pro 
ceeding." 

"  That's  exactly  what  it  was,"  said  Lawrence,  smil 
ing,—"  prompt  and  determined.  There  was  no  doubt 
or  indecision  about  any  part  of  our  affair,  was  there, 
little  one?" 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  said  Annie,  proudly. 

At  dinner,  that  day,  Annie  took  her  place  at  one 
end  of  the  table,  and  Lawrence  his  at  the  other,  but 
the  old  lady  did  not  make  her  appearance.  She  was 
so  erratic  in  her  goings  and  comings,  and  had  so  often 
told  them  they  must  never  wait  for  her,  that  Annie 
cut  the  ham  and  Lawrence  carved  the  fowl,  and  the 
meal  proceeded  without  her.  But  while  they  were  eat 
ing  Mrs.  Keswick  was  heard  coming  down-stairs  from 
her  room,  the  front  door  was  opened  and  slammed  vio 
lently,  and  from  the  dining-room  windows  they  saw  her 
go  down  the  steps,  across  the  yard,  and  out  of  the  gate. 

"I  do  hope,"  ejaculated  Annie,  "that  she  has  not 
gone  away  to  stay ! " 

If  Annie  had  remembered  that  the  boy  Plez,  in  a 
clean  jacket  and  long  white  apron,  officiated  as  waiter, 
she  would  not  have  said  this,  but  then  she  would  have 
lost  some  information.  "  Ole  miss  not  gone  to  stay," 
he  said,  with  the  license  of  an  untrained  retainer. 

338 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  She  gone  to  Howlettses,  an'  she  done  tole  Aun'  Letty 
she'll  be  back  ag'in  dis  ebenin'." 

"If  Aunt  Keswick  don't  come  back,"  said  Annie, 
when  the  two  were  in  the  parlor  after  dinner,  "  I  shall 
go  after  her.  I  don't  intend  to  drive  her  out  of  the 
house." 

"  Don't  you  trouble  yourself  about  that,  my  dear," 
said  Lawrence.  "  She  is  too  angry  not  to  come  back." 

"There  is  one  thing,"  said  Annie,  after  a  while, 
"  that  we  really  ought  to  do.  To-morrow  Aunt  Patsy 
is  to  be  buried,  and  before  she  is  put  into  the  ground 
those  little  shoes  should  be  returned  to  Aunt  Keswick. 
It  seems  to  me  that  justice  to  poor  Aunt  Patsy  re 
quires  that  this  should  be  done.  Perhaps  now  she 
knows  how  wicked  it  was  to  steal  them." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  think  it  would  be  well  to 
put  them  back  where  they  belong ;  but  how  can  you 
manage  it?" 

"  If  you  will  give  them  to  me,"  said  Annie,  "  I  will 
go  up  to  aunt's  room,  now  that  she  is  away,  and  if  she 
keeps  the  box  in  the  same  place  where  it  used  to  be, 
I'll  slip  them  into  it.  I  hate  dreadfully  to  do  it,  but 
I  really  feel  that  it  is  a  duty." 

When  Lawrence,  with  some  little  difficulty,  walked 
across  the  yard  to  get  the  shoes  from  his  trunk,  Annie 
ran  after  him,  and  waited  at  the  office  door.  "  You 
must  not  take  a  step  more  than  necessary,"  she  said, 
"  and  so  I  won't  make  you  come  back  to  the  house." 

When  Lawrence  gave  her  the  shoes,  and  her  hand  a 
little  squeeze  at  the  same  time,  he  told  her  that  he 
should  sit  down  immediately  and  write  his  letter. 

"  And  I,"  said  Annie,  "  will  go  and  see  what  I  can 
do  with  these." 

339 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"With  the  shoes  in  her  pocket,  she  went  up -stairs 
into  her  aunt's  room  j  and  after  looking  around  hastily, 
as  if  to  see  that  the  old  lady  had  not  left  the  ghost  of 
herself  in  charge,  she  approached  the  closet  in  which 
the  sacred  pasteboard  box  had  always  been  kept.  But 
the  closet  was  locked.  Turning  away,  she  looked  about 
the  room.  There  was  no  other  place  in  which  there 
was  any  probability  that  the  box  would  be  kept. 
Then  she  became  nervous ;  she  fancied  she  heard  the 
click  of  the  yard  gate.  She  would  not  for  anything 
have  her  aunt  catch  her  in  that  room ;  nor  would  she 
take  the  shoes  away  with  her.  Hastily  placing  them 
upon  a  table,  she  slipped  out,  and  hurried  into  her 
own  room. 

It  was  about  an  hour  after  this  that  Mrs.  Keswick 
came  rapidly  up  the  steps  of  the  front  porch.  She 
had  been  to  Hewlett's  to  carry  a  letter  which  she  had 
written  to  Miss  March,  and  had  there  made  arrange 
ments  to  have  that  letter  taken  to  Midbranch  very 
early  the  next  morning.  She  had  wished  to  find  some 
one  who  would  start  immediately ;  but  as  there  was  no 
moon,  and  as  the  messenger  would  arrive  after  the 
family  were  all  in  bed,  she  had  been  obliged  to  aban 
don  this  more  energetic  line  of  action.  But  the  letter 
would  get  there  soon  enough  j  and  if  it  did  not  bring 
down  retribution  on  the  head  of  the  man  who  lodged 
in  her  office,  and  who,  she  said  to  herself,  had  worked 
himself  into  her  plans  like  the  rot  in  a  field  of  pota 
toes,  she  would  ever  after  admit  that  she  did  not  know 
how  to  write  a  letter.  All  the  way  home  she  had 
conned  over  her  method  of  action  until  Mr.  Brandon, 
or  a  letter,  should  come  from  Midbranch. 

She  had  already  attacked,  together,  the  unprincipled 
340 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

pair  who  found  shelter  in  her  house,  and  she  now  de 
termined  to  come  upon  them  separately,  and  torment 
each  soul  by  itself.  Annie,  of  course,  would  come  in 
for  the  lesser  share  of  the  punishment,  for  the  fact 
that  the  wretched  and  depraved  Null  was  no  more, 
had,  in  a  great  measure,  mitigated  her  offence.  She 
was  safe,  and  her  aunt  intended  to  hold  her  fast,  and 
do  with  her  as  she  would  when  the  time  and  Junius 
came.  But  upon  Lawrence  she  would  have  no  mercy. 
When  she  had  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Brandon,  or  those  of  Boberta's  father,  or  the  clutches 
of  the  law,  she  would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with 
him  5  but  until  that  time  she  would  make  him  bewail 
the  day  when  he  deceived  and  imposed  upon  her  by 
causing  her  to  believe  that  he  was  in  love  with  another 
when  he  was,  in  reality,  trying  to  get  possession  of  her 
niece.  There  were  a  great  many  things  which  she 
had  not  thought  to  say  to  him  in  the  arbor,  but  she 
would  pour  the  whole  hot  mass  upon  his  head  that 
evening. 

Stamping  up  the  stairs,  and  thumping  her  umbrella 
upon  every  step  as  she  went,  hot  vengeance  breathing 
from  between  her  parted  lips,  and  her  eyes  flashing 
with  the  delight  of  prospective  fury,  she  entered  her 
room.  The  light  of  the  afternoon  had  but  just  begun 
to  wane,  and  she  had  not  made  three  steps  into  the 
apartment  before  her  eyes  fell  upon  a  pair  of  faded, 
light-blue  shoes,  which  stood  side  by  side  upon  a  table. 
She  stopped  suddenly,  and  stood,  pale  and  rigid.  Her 
grasp  upon  her  umbrella  loosened,  and,  unnoticed,  it 
fell  upon  the  floor.  Then,  her  eyes  still  fixed  upon 
the  shoes,  she  moved  slowly  sidewise  towards  the 
closet.  She  tried  the  door,  and  found  it  still  locked ; 

341 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

then  she  put  her  hand  in  her  pocket,  drew  out,  the 
key,  looked  at  it,  and  dropped  it.  With  faltering 
steps  she  drew  near  the  table,  and  stood  supporting 
herself  by  the  back  of  a  chair.  Any  one  else  would 
have  seen  upon  that  table  merely  a  pair  of  baby's 
shoes  j  but  she  saw  more.  She  saw  the  tops  of  the 
little  socks  which  she  had  folded  away  for  the  last 
time  so  many  years  before.  She  saw  the  first  short 
dress  her  child  had  ever  worn ;  it  was  tied  up  with 
pink  ribbons  at  the  shoulders,  from  which  hung  two 
white,  plump  little  arms.  There  was  a  little  neck, 
around  which  was  a  double  string  of  coral  fastened  by 
a  small  gold  clasp.  Above  this  was  a  face,  a  baby  face 
with  soft,  pale  eyes,  and  its  head  covered  with  curls 
of  the  lightest  yellow,  not  arranged  in  artistic  negli 
gence,  but  smooth,  even,  and  regular,  as  she  so  often 
had  turned,  twisted,  and  set  them.  It  was  indeed  her 
baby  girl  who  had  come  to  her,  as  clear  and  vivid  in 
every  feature,  limb,  and  garment  as  were  the  real 
shoes  upon  the  table.  For  many  minutes  she  stood, 
her  eyes  fixed  upon  the  little  apparition ;  then,  slowly, 
she  sank  upon  her  knees  by  the  chair ;  her  sunbonnet, 
which  she  had  not  removed,  was  bowed,  so  the  pale 
eyes  of  the  little  one  could  not  see  her  face,  and  from 
her  own  eyes  came  the  first  tears  that  that  old  woman 
had  shed  since  her  baby's  clothes  had  been  put  away 
in  the  box. 

Lawrence's  letter  to  Miss  March  was  a  definitely 
expressed  document,  intended  to  cover  all  the  ground 
necessary,  and  no  more ;  but  it  could  not  be  said  that 
it  was  entirely  satisfactory  to  himself.  His  case,  to 
say  the  least  of  it,  was  a  difficult  one  to  defend.  He 

342 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

was  aware  that  his  course  might  be  looked  upon  by 
others  as  dishonorable,  although  he  assured  himself 
that  he  had  acted  justly.  It  might  have  been  better 
to  wait  for  a  positive  declaration  from  Miss  March, 
that  she  had  not  truly  accepted  him,  before  engaging 
himself  to  another  lady.  But  then,  he  said  to  him 
self,  true  love  never  waits  for  anything.  At  all  events, 
he  could  write  no  better  letter  than  the  one  he  had 
produced,  and  he  hoped  he  should  have  an  oppor 
tunity  to  show  it  to  Annie  before  he  sent  it. 

He  need  not  have  troubled  himself  in  this  regard, 
for  he  and  Annie  were  not  disturbed  during  the  rest 
of  that  day  by  the  appearance  of  Mrs.  Keswick.  But 
after  the  letter  had  been  duly  considered  and  ap 
proved,  he  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  a  messenger. 
There  was  no  one  on  the  place  who  would  undertake 
to  walk  to  Midbranch,  and  he  could  not  take  the 
liberty  of  using  Mrs.  Keswick's  horse  for  the  trip,  so 
it  was  found  necessary  to  wait  until  the  morrow,  when 
the  letter  could  be  taken  to  Hewlett's,  where,  if  no 
one  could  be  found  to  carry  it  immediately,  it  would 
have  to  be  intrusted  to  the  mail,  which  went  out  the 
next  day.  Lawrence,  of  course,  knew  nothing  of  Mrs. 
Keswiek's  message  to  Midbranch,  or  he  would  have 
been  still  more  desirous  that  his  letter  should  be 
promptly  despatched. 

The  evening  was  not  a  very  pleasant  one.  The  lovers 
did  not  know  at  what  moment  the  old  lady  might 
descend  upon  them,  and  the  element  of  unpleasant 
expectancy  which  pervaded  the  atmosphere  of  the 
house  was  somewhat  depressing.  They  talked  a  good 
deal  of  the  probabilities  of  Mrs.  Keswiek's  action. 
Lawrence  expected  that  she  would  order  him  away, 

343 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

although  Annie  had  stoutly  maintained  that  her  aunt 
would  have  no  right  to  do  this,  as  he  was  not  in  a 
condition  to  travel.  This  argument,  however,  made 
little  impression  upon  Lawrence,  who  was  not  the 
man  to  stay  in  any  house  where  he  was  not  wanted ; 
besides,  he  knew  very  well  that  for  any  one  to  stay  in 
Mrs.  Keswick's  house  when  she  did  not  want  him 
would  be  an  impossibility.  But  he  did  not  intend  to 
slip  away  in  any  cowardly  manner,  and  leave  Annie 
to  bear  alone  the  brunt  of  the  second  storm.  He  felt 
sure  that  such  a  storm  was  impending,  and  he  was  also 
quite  certain  that  its  greatest  violence  would  break 
upon  him.  He  would  stay,  therefore,  and  meet  the 
old  lady  when  she  next  descended  upon  them;  and 
before  he  went  away  he  would  endeavor  to  utter  some 
words  in  defence  of  himself  and  Annie. 

They  separated  early,  and  a  good  deal  of  thinking 
was  done  by  them  before  they  went  to  sleep. 

The  next  morning  they  had  only  each  other  for 
company  at  breakfast  j  but  they  had  just  risen  from 
that  meal  when  they  were  startled  by  the  entrance 
of  Mrs.  Keswick.  Having  expected  her  appearance 
during  the  whole  of  the  time  they  were  eating,  they 
had  no  reason  to  be  startled  by  her  coming  now,  but 
for  their  subsequent  amazement  at  her  appearance  and 
demeanor  they  had  every  reason  in  the  world.  Her 
face  was  pale  and  grave,  with  an  air  of  rigidity  about 
it  which  was  not  common  to  her,  for,  in  general, 
she  possessed  a  very  mobile  countenance.  Without 
speaking  a  word,  she  advanced  towards  Lawrence, 
and  extended  her  hand  to  him.  He  was  so  much  sur 
prised  that,  while  he  took  her  hand  in  his,  he  could 
only  murmur  some  unintelligible  form  of  morning 

344 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

salutation.  Then  Mrs.  Keswick  turned  to  Annie,  and 
shook  hands  with  her.  The  young  girl  grew  pale, 
but  said  not  a  word ;  but  some  tears  came  into  her 
eyes,  although  why  this  happened  she  could  not  have 
explained  to  herself.  Having  finished  this  little  per 
formance,  the  old  lady  walked  to  the  back  window 
and  looked  out  into  the  flower-garden,  although  there 
was  really  nothing  there  to  see.  Now  Annie  found 
voice  to  ask  her  aunt  if  she  would  not  have  some 
breakfast. 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick ;  "  my  breakfast  was 
brought  up-stairs  to  me."  And  with  that  she  turned 
and  went  out  of  the  room.  She  closed  the  door  be 
hind  her,  but  scarcely  had  she  done  so  when  she 
opened  it  again  and  looked  in.  It  was  quite  plain  to 
the  two  silent  and  astonished  observers  of  her  actions 
that  she  was  engaged  in  the  occupation,  very  unusual 
with  her,  of  controlling  an  excited  condition  of  mind. 
She  looked  first  at  one  and  then  at  the  other,  and 
then  she  said,  in  a  voice  which  seemed  to  meet  with 
occasional  obstructions  in  its  course  :  "  I  have  nothing 
more  to  say  about  anything.  Do  just  what  you  please, 
only  don't  talk  to  me  about  it."  And  she  closed  the 
door. 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  all  this  t "  said  Lawrence, 
advancing  towards  Annie.  "What  has  come  over 
her?" 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know,"  said  Annie ;  and  with 
this  she  burst  into  tears,  and  cried  as  she  would  have 
scorned  to  cry  during  the  terrible  storm  of  the  day 
before. 

That  morning  Lawrence  Croft  was  a  very  much 
puzzled  man.  What  had  happened  to  Mrs.  Keswick 

345 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

he  could  not  divine,  and  at  times  he  imagined  that 
her  changed  demeanor  was  perhaps  nothing  but  an 
artful  cover  to  some  new  and  more  ruthless  attack. 

Annie  took  occasion  to  be  with  her  aunt  a  good  deal 
during  the  morning,  but  she  reported  to  Lawrence 
that  the  old  lady  had  said  very  little,  and  that  little 
related  entirely  to  household  affairs. 

Mrs.  Keswick  ate  dinner  with  them.  Her  manner 
was  grave  and  even  stern;  but  she  made  a  few  re 
marks  in  regard  to  the  weather  and  some  neighbor 
hood  matters,  and  before  the  end  of  the  meal  both 
Lawrence  and  Annie  fancied  that  they  could  see  some 
little  signs  of  a  return  to  her  usual  humor,  which  was 
pleasant  enough  when  nothing  happened  to  make  it 
otherwise.  But  expectations  of  an  early  return  to  her 
ordinary  manner  of  life  were  fallacious.  She  did  not 
appear  at  supper,  and  she  spent  the  evening  in  her 
own  room.  Lawrence  and  Annie  had  thus  ample  op 
portunity  to  discuss  this  novel  and  most  unexpected 
state  of  affairs.  They  did  not  understand  it,  but  it 
could  not  fail  to  cheer  and  encourage  them.  Only 
one  thing  they  decided  upon,  and  that  was  that  Law 
rence  could  not  go  away  until  he  had  had  an  oppor 
tunity  of  fully  comprehending  the  position,  in  relation 
to  Mrs.  Keswick,  in  which  he  and  Annie  stood. 

About  the  middle  of  the  evening,  as  Lawrence  was 
thinking  that  it  was  time  for  him  to  retire  to  his  room 
in  the  little  house  in  the  yard,  Letty  came  in  with  a 
letter  which  she  said  had  been  brought  from  Mid- 
branch  by  a  colored  man  on  a  horse ;  the  man  had 
said  there  was  no  answer,  and  had  gone  back  to  Hew 
lett's,  where  he  belonged. 

The  letter  was  for  Mr.  Croft  and  from  Miss  March. 

346 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Very  much  surprised  at  receiving  such  a  missive, 
Lawrence  opened  the  envelope.  His  letter  to  Miss 
March  had  not  yet  been  sent,  for  the  new  state  of 
affairs  had  not  only  very  much  occupied  his  mind, 
but  it  also  seemed  to  render  unnecessary  any  haste  in 
the  matter,  and  he  had  concluded  to  mail  the  letter 
the  next  day.  This,  therefore,  was  not  in  answer  to 
anything  from  him ;  and  why  should  she  have  written? 

It  was  with  a  decidedly  uneasy  sensation  that  Law 
rence  began  to  read  the  letter,  Annie  watching  him 
anxiously  as  he  did  so.  The  letter  was  a  somewhat 
long  one,  and  the  purport  of  it  was  as  follows :  The 
writer  stated  that,  having  received  a  most  extraor 
dinary  and  astounding  epistle  from  old  Mrs.  Keswick, 
which  had  been  sent  by  a  special  messenger,  she  had 
thought  it  her  duty  to  write  immediately  on  the  sub 
ject  to  Mr.  Croft,  and  had  detained  the  man  that  she 
might  send  this  letter  by  him.  She  did  not  pretend 
to  understand  the  full  purport  of  what  Mrs.  Keswick 
had  written,  but  it  was  evident  that  the  old  lady  be 
lieved  that  an  engagement  of  marriage  existed  between 
herself  (Miss  March)  and  Mr.  Croft.  That  that  gen 
tleman  had  given  such  information  to  Mrs.  Keswick 
she  could  hardly  suppose,  but,  if  he  had,  it  must  have 
been  in  consequence  of  a  message  which,  very  much  to 
her  surprise  and  grief,  had  been  delivered  to  Mr.  Croft 
by  Mr.  Keswick.  In  order  that  this  message  might  be 
understood,  Miss  March  had  determined  to  make  a  full 
explanation  of  her  line  of  conduct  towards  Mr.  Croft. 

During  the  latter  part  of  their  pleasant  intercourse 
at  Midbranch  during  the  past  summer,  she  had  reason 
to  believe  that  Mr.  Croft's  intentions  in  regard  to  her 
were  becoming  serious,  but  she  had  also  perceived 

347 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

that  his  impulses,  however  earnest  they  might  have 
been,  were  controlled  by  an  extraordinary  caution 
and  prudence,  which,  although  it  sometimes  amused 
her,  was  not  in  the  least  degree  complimentary  to  her. 
She  could  not  prevent  herself  from  resenting  this  some 
what  peculiar  action  of  Mr.  Croft,  and  this  resentment 
grew  into  a  desire,  which  gradually  became  a  very 
strong  one,  that  she  might  have  an  opportunity  of 
declining  a  proposal  from  him.  That  opportunity 
came  while  they  were  both  at  Mrs.  Keswick's,  and  she 
had  intended  that  what  she  said  at  her  last  interview 
with  Mr.  Croft  should  be  considered  a  definite  refusal 
of  his  suit,  but  the  interview  had  terminated  before 
she  had  stated  her  mind  quite  as  plainly  as  she  had 
purposed  doing.  She  had  not,  however,  wished  to 
renew  the  conversation  on  the  subject,  and  had  con 
cluded  to  content  herself  with  what  she  had  already 
said,  feeling  quite  sure  that  her  words  had  been  suffi 
cient  to  satisfy  Mr.  Croft  that  it  would  be  useless  to 
make  any  further  proposals. 

When,  on  the  eve  of  her  departure  from  the  house, 
Mr.  Keswick  had  brought  her  Mr.  Croft's  message,  she 
was  not  only  amazed,  but  indignant ;  not  so  much  at 
Mr.  Croft  for  sending  it  as  at  Mr.  Keswick  for  bring 
ing  it.  Miss  March  was  not  ashamed  to  confess  that 
she  was  irritated  and  incensed  to  a  high  degree  that  a 
gentleman  who  had  held  the  position  towards  her  that 
Mr.  Keswick  had  held  should  bring  her  such  a  mes 
sage  from  another  man.  She  was,  therefore,  seized 
with  a  sudden  impulse  to  punish  him,  and,  without  in 
the  least  expecting  that  he  would  carry  such  an  an 
swer,  she  had  given  him  the  one  which  he  had  taken 
to  Mr.  Croft.  Having,  until  the  day  on  which  she 
was  writing,  heard  nothing  further  on  the  subject,  she 

348 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

had  supposed  that  her  expectations  had  been  realized. 
But  on  this  day  the  astonishing  letter  from  Mrs.  Kes- 
wick  had  arrived,  and  it  made  her  understand  that 
not  only  had  her  impulsive  answer  been  delivered, 
but  that  Mr.  Croft  had  informed  other  persons  that 
he  had  been  accepted.  She  wished,  therefore,  to  lose 
no  time  in  stating  to  Mr.  Croft  that  what  she  had  said 
to  him  with  her  own  lips  was  to  be  received  as  her 
final  resolve,  and  that  the  answer  given  to  Mr.  Kes- 
wick  was  not  intended  for  Mr.  Croft's  ears. 

Miss  March  then  went  on  to  say  that  it  might  be 
possible  that  she  owed  Mr.  Croft  an  apology  for  the 
somewhat  ungracious  manner  in  which  she  had  treated 
him  at  Mrs.  Keswick's  house  ;  but  she  assured  herself 
that  Mr.  Croft  owed  her  an  apology,  not  only  for  the 
manner  of  his  attentions,  but  for  the  peculiar  publicity 
he  had  given  them.  In  that  case  the  apologies  neu 
tralized  each  other.  Miss  March  had  no  intention  of 
answering  Mrs.  Keswick's  letter.  Under  no  circum 
stances  could  she  have  considered,  for  a  moment,  its 
absurd  suggestions  and  recommendations ;  and  it  con 
tained  allusions  to  Mr.  Croft  and  another  person 
which,  if  not  founded  upon  the  imagination  of  Mrs. 
Keswick,  certainly  concerned  nothing  with  which 
Miss  March  had  anything  to  do. 

The  proud  spirit  of  Lawrence  Croft  was  a  good  deal 
ruffled  when  he  read  this  letter,  but  he  made  no  re 
mark  about  it.  "  "Would  you  like  to  read  it  ? "  he  said 
to  Annie. 

She  greatly  desired  to  read  it,  but  there  was  some 
thing  in  her  lover's  face,  and  in  the  tone  in  which  he 
spoke,  which  made  her  suspect  that  the  reading  of 
that  letter  might  be,  in  some  degree,  humiliating  to 
Mm.  She  was  certain,  from  the  expression  of  his  face 

349 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

as  he  read  it,  that  the  letter  contained  matter  very 
unpleasant  to  Lawrence,  and  it  might  be  that  it  would 
wound  him  to  have  another  person,  especially  herself, 
read  it ;  and  so  she  said :  "  I  don't  care  to  read  it 
if  you  will  tell  me  why  she  wrote  to  you,  and  the 
point  of  what  she  says." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Lawrence.  And  he  crumpled 
the  letter  in  his  hand  as  he  spoke.  "  She  wrote,"  he 
continued,  "in  consequence  of  a  letter  she  has  had 
from  your  aunt." 

"  "What ! "  exclaimed  Annie.  "  Did  Aunt  Keswick 
write  to  her?" 

"Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "and  sent  it  by  a  special 
messenger.  She  must  have  told  her  all  the  heinous 
crimes  with  which  she  charged  you  and  me,  particu 
larly  me  ;  and  this  must  have  been  the  first  intimation 
to  Miss  March  that  your  cousin  had  given  me  the  answer 
she  made  to  him  ;  therefore  Miss  March  writes  in  haste 
to  let  me  know  that  she  did  not  intend  that  that  an 
swer  should  be  given  to  me,  and  that  she  wishes  it 
generally  understood  that  I  have  no  more  connection 
with  her  than  I  have  with  the  Queen  of  Spain.  That 
is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  letter." 

"  I  knew  as  well  as  I  know  anything  in  the  world," 
said  Annie,  "that  that  message  Junius  brought  you 
meant  nothing."  And  taking  the  crumpled  letter 
from  his  hand,  she  threw  it  on  the  few  embers  that 
remained  in  the  fireplace,  and  as  it  blazed  and 
crumbled  into  black  ashes,  she  said :  "  Now  that  is 
the  end  of  Roberta  March  ! " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  emphasizing  his  remark  with 
an  encircling  arm  j  "  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  that  is 
the  end  of  her." 

350 


CHAPTER  XXYin 

ON  the  next  day  old  Aunt  Patsy  was  buried.  Mrs. 
Keswick  and  Annie  attended  the  ceremonies  in  the 
cabin,  but  they  did  not.  go  to  the  burial.  After  a 
time,  it  might  be  in  a  week  or  two,  or  it  might  be  in 
a  year,  the  funeral  sermon  would  be  preached  in  the 
church,  and  they  would  go  to  hear  that.  Aunt  Patsy 
never  finished  her  crazy-quilt,  several  pieces  being 
wanted  to  one  corner  of  it ;  but  in  the  few  days  pre 
ceding  her  burial  two  old  women  of  the  congregation, 
with  trembling  hands  and  uncertain  eyes,  sewed  in 
these  pieces  and  finished  the  quilt,  in  which  the  body 
of  the  venerable  sister  was  wrapped,  according  to  her 
well-known  wish  and  desire.  It  is  customary  among 
the  negroes  to  keep  the  remains  of  their  friends  a 
very  short  time  after  death  ;  but  Aunt  Patsy  had  lived 
so  long  upon  this  earth  that  it  was  generally  conceded 
that  her  spirit  would  not  object  to  her  body  remaining 
above  ground  until  all  necessary  arrangements  should 
be  completed,  and  until  all  people  who  had  known  or 
heard  of  her  had  had  an  opportunity  of  taking  a  last 
look  at  her.  As  she  had  been  so  very  well  known  to 
almost  everybody's  grandparents,  a  good  many  people 
availed  themselves  of  this  privilege. 

After  Mrs.  Keswick's  return  from  Aunt  Patsy's  cabin, 
351 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

where,  according  to  her  custom,  she  made  herself 
very  prominent,  it  was  noticeable  that  she  had  dropped 
some  of  the  grave  reserve  in  which  she  had  wrapped 
herself  during  the  preceding  day.  It  was  impossible 
for  her,  at  least  but  for  a  very  short  time,  to  act  in  a 
manner  unsuited  to  her  nature ;  and  reserve  and  con 
straint  had  never  been  suited  to  her  nature.  She, 
therefore,  began  to  speak  on  general  subjects  in  her 
ordinary  free  manner  to  the  various  persons  in  her 
house ;  but  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  she  exhibited 
any  contrition  for  the  outrageous  way  in  which  she 
had  spoken  to  Annie  and  Lawrence,  or  gave  them  any 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  laceration  of  their  souls  on 
that  occasion  was  a  matter  which,  at  present,  needed 
any  consideration  whatever  from  her.  An  angel,  born 
of  memory  and  imagination,  might  come  to  her  from 
heaven,  and  so  work  upon  her  superstitious  feelings 
as  to  induce  her  to  stop  short  in  her  course  of  reckless 
vengeance ;  but  she  would  not,  on  that  account,  fall 
upon  anybody's  neck,  or  ask  forgiveness  for  anything 
she  had  done  to  anybody.  She  did  not  accuse  herself, 
nor  repent ;  she  only  stopped.  "  After  this,"  she  said, 
"  you  all  can  do  as  you  please.  I  have  no  further  con 
cern  with  your  affairs.  Only  don't  talk  to  me  about 
them." 

She  told  Lawrence,  in  a  manner  that  would  seem  to 
indicate  a  moderate  but  courteous  interest  in  his 
welfare,  that  he  must  not  think  of  leaving  her  house 
until  his  ankle  had  fully  recovered  its  strength  j  and 
she  even  went  so  far  as  to  suggest  the  use  of  a  patent 
lotion  which  she  had  seen  at  the  store  at  Hewlett's. 
She  resumed  her  former  intercourse  with  Annie,  but 
it  seemed  impossible  for  her  to  entirely  forget  the 

352 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

deception  which  that  young  lady  had  practised  upon 
her.  The  only  indication,  however,  of  this  resent 
ment  was  the  appellation  which  she  now  bestowed 
upon  her  niece.  In  speaking  of  her  to  Lawrence  or 
any  of  the  household,  she  invariably  called  her  "  the 
late  Mrs.  Null "  ;  and  this  title  so  pleased  the  old  lady 
that  she  soon  began  to  use  it  in  addressing  her  niece. 
Annie  occasionally  remonstrated  in  a  manner  which 
seemed  half  playful,  but  was  in  fact  quite  earnest ;  but 
her  aunt  paid  no  manner  of  attention  to  her  words, 
and  continued  to  please  herself  by  this  half-sarcastic 
method  of  alluding  to  her  niece's  fictitious  matri 
monial  state. 

Letty  and  the  other  servants  were  at  first  much 
astonished  by  the  new  title  given  to  Miss  Annie,  and 
the  only  way  in  which  they  could  explain  it  was  by 
supposing  that  Mr.  Null  had  gone  off  somewhere  and 
died;  and  although  they  could  not  understand  why 
Miss  Annie  should  show  so  little  grief  in  the  matter, 
and  why  she  had  not  put  on  mourning,  they  imagined 
that  these  were  customs  which  she  had  learned  in  the 
North. 

Lawrence  advised  Annie  to  pay  no  attention  to  this 
whim  of  her  aunt.  "  It  don't  hurt  either  of  us,"  he 
said,  "  and  we  ought  to  be  very  glad  that  she  has  let 
us  off  so  easily.  But  there  is  one  thing  I  think  you 
ought  to  do :  you  should  write  to  your  cousin  Junius 
and  tell  him  of  our  engagement;  but  I  would  not 
refer  at  all  to  the  other  matter ;  you  are  not  supposed 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  it,  and  Miss  March  can 
tell  him  as  much  about  it  as  she  chooses.  Mr.  Keswick 
wrote  me  that  he  was  going  to  Midbranch,  and  that 
he  would  communicate  with  me  while  there ;  but  as  I 

353 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

have  not  since  heard  from  him,  I  presume  he  is  still  in 
Washington." 

A  letter  was,  therefore,  written  by  Annie,  and 
addressed  to  Junius  in  Washington,  and  Lawrence 
drove  her  to  the  railroad  station  in  the  spring-wagon, 
where  it  was  posted.  The  family  mail  came  bi-weekly 
to  Hewlett's,  as  the  post-office  at  the  railroad-station 
was  entirely  too  distant  for  convenience ;  and  as  Satur 
day  approached  it  was  evident,  from  Mrs.  Keswick's 
occasional  remarks  and  questions,  that  she  expected  a 
letter.  It  was  quite  natural  for  Lawrence  and  Annie 
to  surmise  that  this  letter  was  expected  from  Miss 
March,  for  Mrs.  Keswick  had  not  heard  of  any  re 
joinder  having  been  made  to  her  epistle  to  that  lady. 
When,  late  on  Saturday  afternoon,  the  boy  Plez  re 
turned  from  Hewlett's,  Mrs.  Keswick  eagerly  took 
from  him  the  well-worn  letter-bag,  and  looked  over 
its  contents.  There  was  a  letter  for  her,  and  from 
Midbranch ;  but  the  address  was  written  by  Junius, 
not  by  Miss  March.  There  was  another  in  the  same 
handwriting  for  Annie.  As  the  old  lady  looked  at 
the  address  on  her  letter,  and  then  on  its  postmark, 
she  was  evidently  disappointed  and  displeased;  but 
she  said  nothing,  and  went  away  with  it  to  her  room. 

Annie's  letter  was  in  answer  to  the  one  she  had  sent 
to  Washington,  which  had  been  promptly  forwarded 
to  Midbranch,  where  Junius  had  been  for  some  days. 
It  began  by  expressing  much  surprise  at  the  informa 
tion  his  cousin  had  given  him  in  regard  to  her  assump 
tion  of  a  married  title ;  and  although  she  had  assured 
him  she  had  very  good  reasons,  he  could  not  admit 
that  it  was  right  and  proper  for  her  to  deceive  his  aunt 
and  himself  in  this  way.  If  it  were  indeed  necessary 

354 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

that  other  persons  should  suppose  that  she  were  a 
married  woman,  her  nearest  relatives,  at  least,  should 
have  been  told  the  truth. 

At  this  passage,  Annie,  who  was  reading  the  letter 
aloud,  and  Lawrence,  who  was  listening,  both  laughed. 
But  they  made  no  remarks,  and  the  reading  proceeded. 

Junius  next  alluded  to  the  news  of  his  cousin's  en 
gagement  to  Mr.  Croft.  His  guarded  remarks  on  this 
subject  showed  the  kindness  of  his  heart.  He  did  not 
allude  to  the  suddenness  of  the  engagement,  nor  to 
the  very  peculiar  events  that  had  so  recently  preceded 
it  5  but,  reading  between  the  lines,  both  Annie  and 
Lawrence  thought  that  the  writer  had  probably  given 
these  points  a  good  deal  of  consideration.  In  a  gen 
eral  way,  however,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  see  any 
objection  to  such  a  match  for  his  cousin,  and  this  was 
the  impression  he  endeavored  to  give,  in  a  very  kindly 
way,  in  his  congratulations.  But,  even  here,  there 
seemed  to  be  indications  of  a  hope,  on  the  part  of 
the  writer,  that  Mr.  Croft  would  not  see  fit  to  make 
another  short  tack  in  his  course  of  love. 

Like  the  polite  gentleman  he  was,  Mr.  Keswick 
allowed  his  own  affairs  to  come  in  at  the  end  of  the 
letter.  Here  he  informed  his  cousin  that  his  engage 
ment  with  Miss  March  had  been  renewed,  and  that 
they  were  to  be  married  shortly  after  Christmas.  As 
it  must  have  been  very  plain  to  those  who  were  pres 
ent  when  Miss  March  left  his  aunt's  house  that  she 
left  in  anger  with  him,  he  felt  impelled  to  say  that  he 
had  explained  to  her  the  course  of  action  to  which  she 
had  taken  exception,  and  although  she  had  not  ad 
mitted  that  that  course  had  been  a  justifiable  one,  she 
had  forgiven  him.  He  wished  also  to  say  at  this  point 

355 


THE  LATE  MRS.   NULL 

that  lie  himself  was  not  at  all  proud  of  what  he  had 
done. 

"That  was  intended  for  me,"  interrupted  Law 
rence. 

"  Well,  if  you  understand  it,  it  is  all  right,"  said 
Annie. 

Junius  went  on  to  say  that  the  renewal  of  his  en 
gagement  was  due,  in  great  part,  to  Miss  March's  visit 
to  his  aunt,  and  to  a  letter  she  had  received  from  her. 
A  few  days  of  intercourse  with  Mrs.  Keswick,  whom 
she  had  never  before  seen,  and  the  tenor  and  purpose 
of  that  letter,  had  persuaded  Miss  March  that  his  aunt 
was  a  person  whose  mind  had  passed  into  a  condition 
when  its  opposition  or  its  action  ought  not  to  be  con 
sidered  by  persons  who  were  intent  upon  their  own 
welfare.  His  own  arrival  at  Midbranch  at  this  junc 
ture  had  resulted  in  the  happy  renewal  of  their 
engagement. 

"  I  don't  know  Junius  half  as  well  as  I  wish  I  did," 
said  Annie,  as  she  finished  the  letter,  "  but  I  am  very 
sure  indeed  that  he  will  make  a  good  husband,  and  I 
am  glad  he  has  got  Roberta  March— as  he  wants  her." 

"Did  you  emphasize  'he'?"  asked  Lawrence. 

"  I  will  emphasize  it,  if  you  would  like  to  hear  me 
do  it,"  said  she. 

"It's  very  queer,"  remarked  Annie,  after  a  little 
pause,  "that  I  should  have  been  so  anxious  to  pre 
serve  poor  Junius  from  your  clutches,  and  that,  after 
all  I  did  to  save  him,  I  should  fall  into  those  clutches 
myself." 

Whereupon  Lawrence,  much  to  her  delight,  told 
her  the  story  of  the  anti-detective. 

Mrs.  Keswick  sat  down  in  her  room  and  read  her 
356 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

letter.  She  had  no  intention  of  abandoning  her  reso 
lution  to  let  things  go  as  they  would,  and  therefore 
did  not  expect  to  follow  up,  with  further  words  or 
actions,  anything  she  had  written  in  her  letter  to 
Koberta  March.  But  she  had  had  a  very  strong  curi 
osity  to  know  what  that  lady  would  say  in  answer  to 
said  letter,  and  she  was  therefore  disappointed  and 
displeased  that  the  missive  she  had  received  was  from 
her  nephew,  and  not  from  Miss  March.  She  did  not 
wish  to  have  a  letter  from  Junius.  She  knew,  or 
rather  very  much  feared,  that  it  would  contain  news 
which  would  be  bad  news  to  her,  and  although  she 
was  sure  that  such  news  would  come  to  her  sooner  or 
later,  she  was  very  much  averse  to  receiving  it. 

His  letter  to  her  merely  touched  upon  the  points  of 
Mrs.  Null,  and  his  cousin's  engagement  to  Mr,  Croft ; 
but  it  was  almost  entirely  filled  with  the  announce 
ment,  and  most  earnest  defence,  of  his  own  engage 
ment  to  Roberta  March.  He  said  a  great  deal  upon 
this  subject,  and  he  said  it  well.  But  it  is  doubtful 
if  his  fervid,  and  often  affectionate,  expressions  made 
much  impression  upon  his  aunt.  Nothing  could  make 
the  old  lady  like  this  engagement,  but  she  had  made 
up  her  mind  that  he  might  do  as  he  pleased,  and  it 
didn't  matter  what  he  said  about  it ;  he  had  done  it, 
and  there  was  an  end  of  it. 

But  there  was  one  thing  that  did  matter :  that  un 
principled  and  iniquitous  old  man  Brandon  had  had 
his  own  way  at  last,  and  she  and  her  way  had  been 
set  aside.  This  was  the  last  of  a  series  of  injuries  to 
her  and  her  family  with  which  she  charged  Mr.  Bran 
don  and  his  family ;  but  it  was  the  crowning  wrong. 
The  injury  itself  she  did  not  so  much  deplore  as  that 

357 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

the  injurer  would  profit  by  it.  Arrested  in  her  course 
of  raging  passion  by  a  sudden  flood  of  warm  and  irre 
sistible  emotion,  she  had  resigned,  as  impetuously  as 
she  had  taken  them  up,  her  purposes  of  vengeance, 
and,  consequently,  her  plans  for  her  nephew  and  niece. 
But  she  was  a  keen-minded  as  well  as  passionate 
old  woman,  and  when  she  had  considered  the  altered 
state  of  affairs,  she  was  able  to  see  in  it  advantages  as 
well  as  disappointment  and  defeat.  From  what  she 
had  learned  of  Lawrence  Croft's  circumstances  and  po 
sition,— and  she  had  made  a  good  many  inquiries  on 
this  subject  of  Roberta  March, —he  was  certainly  a  good 
match  for  Annie ;  and  although  she  hated  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  Midbranch,  it  could  not  be  a  bad 
thing  for  Junius  to  be  master  of  that  large  estate,  and 
that  Mr.  Brandon  had  repeatedly  declared  he  would 
be  if  he  married  Roberta.  Thus,  in  the  midst  of  these 
reverses,  there  was  something  to  comfort  her  and 
reconcile  her  to  them.  But  there  was  no  balm  for 
the  wound  caused  by  Mr.  Brandon's  success  and  her 
failure. 

With  the  letter  of  Junius  open  in  her  hand,  she  sat, 
for  a  long  time,  in  bitter  meditation.  At  length  a 
light  gradually  spread  itself  over  her  gloomy  coun 
tenance  ;  her  eyes  sparkled ;  she  sat  up  straight  in 
her  chair,  and  a  broad  smile  changed  the  course  of  the 
wrinkles  on  her  cheeks.  She  rose  to  her  feet;  she 
gave  her  head  a  quick  jerk  of  affirmation ;  she  clapped 
one  hand  upon  the  other  5  and  she  said  aloud :  "  I  will 
bless,  not  curse ! " 

And  with  that  she  went  happy  to  bed. 


358 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

ON  the  following  Monday,  Lawrence  announced  that 
his  ankle  was  now  quite  well  enough  for  him  to  go  to 
New  York,  where  his  affairs  required  his  presence. 
Neither  he  nor  the  late  Mrs.  Null  regarded  this  part 
ing  with  any  satisfaction,  but  their  very  natural  re 
grets  at  the  necessary  termination  of  these  happy 
autumn  days  were  a  good  deal  tempered  by  the  fact 
that  Lawrence  intended  to  return  in  a  few  weeks,  and 
that  then  the  final  arrangements  would  be  made  for 
their  marriage.  It  was  not  easy  to  decide  what  these 
arrangements  would  be,  for,  in  spite  of  the  many  wrong- 
nesses  of  the  old  lady's  head  and  heart,  Annie  had 
conceived  a  good  deal  of  affection  for  her  aunt,  and 
felt  a  strong  disinclination  to  abandon  her  to  her 
lonely  life,  which  would  be  more  lonely  than  before, 
now  that  Junius  was  to  be  married.  On  the  other 
hand,  Lawrence,  although  he  had  discovered  some 
estimable  points  in  the  very  peculiar  character  of 
Mrs.  Keswick,  had  no  intention  of  living  in  the  same 
house  with  her.  This  whole  matter,  therefore,  was 
left  in  abeyance  until  the  lovers  should  meet  again, 
some  time  in  December. 

Lawrence  and  Annie  had  desired  very  much  that 
Junius  should  visit  them  before  Mr.  Croft's  departure 

359 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

for  the  North,  for  they  both  had  a  high  esteem  for 
him,  and  both  felt  a  desire  that  he  should  be  as  well 
satisfied  with  their  matrimonial  project  as  they  were 
with  his.  But  they  need  not  have  expected  him. 
Junius  had  conceived  a  dislike  for  Mr.  Croft,  which 
was  based  in  great  part  upon  disapprobation  of  what 
he  himself  had  done  in  connection  with  that  gentle 
man  ;  and  this  manner  of  dislike  is  not  easily  set  aside. 
The  time  would  come  when  he  would  take  Lawrence 
Croft  and  Annie  by  the  hand,  and  honestly  congratu 
late  them,  but  for  that  time  they  must  wait. 

Lawrence  departed  in  the  afternoon ;  and  the  next 
day  Mrs.  Keswick  set  about  that  general  renovation 
and  rearrangement  of  her  establishment  which  many 
good  housewives  consider  necessary  at  certain  epochs, 
such  as  the  departure  of  guests,  the  coming  in  of  spring, 
or  the  advent  of  winter.  These  arrangements  occupied 
two  days,  and  on  the  evening  that  they  were  finished 
to  her  satisfaction,  the  old  lady  informed  her  niece 
that  early  the  next  morning  she  was  going  to  start 
for  Midbranch,  and  that  it  was  possible,  nay,  quite 
probable,  that  she  would  stay  there  over  a  night.  "  I 
might  go  and  come  back  the  same  day,"  she  said,  "  but 
thirty  miles  a  day  is  too  much  for  Billy ;  and  besides, 
I  am  not  sure  I  could  get  through  what  I  have  to  do 
if  I  do  not  stay  over.  I  would  take  you  with  me,  but 
this  is  not  to  be  a  mere  visit ;  I  have  important  things 
to  attend  to,  and  you  would  be  in  the  way.  You  got 
along  so  well  without  me  when  you  first  came  here 
that  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  do  very  well  for  one 
night  I  shall  drive  myself,  and  take  Plez  along  with 
me,  and  leave  Uncle  Isham  and  Letty  to  take  care  of 


you." 


360 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  Annie  would  have 
been  delighted  to  go  to  Midbranch,  a  place  she  had 
never  seen,  and  of  which  she  had  heard  so  much ;  but 
she  had  no  present  desire  to  see  Roberta  March,  and 
said  so,  further  remarking  that  she  was  very  willing 
to  stay  by  herself  for  a  night.  She  hoped  much  that 
her  aunt  would  proceed  with  the  conversation,  and 
tell  her  why  she  had  determined  upon  such  an  ex 
traordinary  thing  as  a  visit  to  Midbranch,  where  she 
knew  the  old  lady  had  not  been  for  many,  many  years. 
But  Mrs.  Keswick  had  nothing  further  to  say  upon 
this  subject,  and  began  to  talk  of  other  matters. 

After  a  very  early  breakfast,  next  morning,  Mrs. 
Keswick  set  out  upon  her  journey,  driving  the  sorrel 
horse  with  much  steadiness,  intermingled  with  severity 
whenever  he  allowed  himself  to  drop  out  of  his  usual 
jogging  pace.  Plez  sat  in  the  back  part  of  the  spring- 
wagon,  and  whenever  the  old  lady  saw  an  unusually 
large  stone  lying  in  the  track  of  the  road,  she  would 
stop,  and  make  him  get  out  and  throw  it  to  one 
side. 

"I  believe,"  she  said,  on  one  of  these  occasions, 
"that  a  thousand  men  in  buggies  might  pass  along 
this  road  thrice  a  day  for  a  year,  and  never  think  of 
stopping  to  throw  that  rock  out  of  the  way  of  people's 
wheels.  They  would  steer  around  it  every  time,  or 
bump  over  it ;  but  such  a  thing  as  moving  it  would 
never  enter  their  heads." 

The  morning  was  somewhat  cool,  but  fine,  and  the 
smile  which  occasionally  flitted  over  the  corrugated 
countenance  of  Mrs.  Keswick  seemed  to  indicate  that 
she  was  in  a  pleasant  state  of  mind,  which  might  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  fine  weather  and  the  good  con- 

361 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

dition  of  the  roads,  or  by  cheerful  anticipations  con 
nected  with  her  visit. 

It  was  not  very  long  after  noonday  that,  with  a 
stifled  remark  of  disapprobation  upon  her  lips,  she 
drew  up  at  the  foot  of  the  broad  flight  of  steps  by 
which  one  crossed  the  fence  into  the  Midbranch  yard. 
Giving  Billy  into  the  charge  of  Plez,  with  directions 
to  take  him  round  to  the  stables  and  tell  somebody  to 
put  him  up  and  feed  him,  she  mounted  the  steps,  and 
stopped  for  a  minute  or  so  on  the  broad  platform  at 
the  top,  looking  about  her  as  she  stood.  Everything 
—the  house,  the  yard,  the  row  of  elms  along  the  fence, 
the  wide-spreading  fields,  and  the  farm  buildings  and 
cabins,  some  of  which  she  could  see  around  the  end  of 
the  house—  was  all  on  a  scale  so  much  larger  and  more 
imposing  than  those  of  her  own  little  estate  that,  al 
though  nothing  had  changed  for  the  better  since  the 
days  when  she  was  familiar  with  Midbranch,  she  was 
struck  with  the  general  superiority  of  the  Brandon 
possessions  to  her  own.  Her  eyes  twinkled,  and  she 
smiled ;  but  there  did  not  appear  to  be  anything 
envious  about  her. 

She  presented  a  rather  remarkable  figure  as  she 
stood  in  this  conspicuous  position.  Annie  had  insisted, 
when  she  was  helping  her  aunt  to  array  herself  for 
the  journey,  that  she  should  wear  a  bonnet  which  for 
many  years  had  been  her  head-gear  on  Sundays  and 
important  occasions.  But  to  this  the  old  lady  positively 
objected.  She  was  not  going  on  a  mere  visit  of  state 
or  ceremony ;  her  visit  at  Midbranch  would  require 
her  whole  attention,  and  she  did  not  wish  to  distract 
her  mind  by  wondering  whether  her  bonnet  was 
straight  on  her  head  or  not,  and  she  was  so  unaccus 
tomed  to  the  feel  of  it  that  she  would  never  know  if 

362 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

it  got  turned  hind  part  foremost.  She  could  not  be 
at  her  ease,  nor  say  freely  what  she  wished  to  say,  if 
she  were  dressed  in  clothes  to  which  she  was  not  accus 
tomed.  She  was  perfectly  accustomed  to  her  sun- 
bonnet,  and  she  intended  to  wear  that.  Of  course  she 
carried  her  purple  umbrella,  and  she  wore  a  plain 
calico  dress,  blue  spotted  with  white,  which  was  very 
narrow  and  short  in  the  skirt,  barely  touching  the 
tops  of  her  shoes,  the  stoutest  and  most  serviceable 
that  could  be  procured  in  the  store  at  Hewlett's.  She 
covered  her  shoulders  with  a  small  red  shawl,  which, 
much  to  Annie's  surprise,  she  fastened  with  a  large 
and  somewhat  tarnished  silver  brooch,  an  ornament 
her  niece  had  never  before  seen.  Attired  thus,  she 
certainly  would  have  attracted  attention,  had  there 
been  any  one  there  to  see ;  but  the  yard  was  empty, 
and  the  house  door  closed.  She  descended  the  steps, 
crossed  the  yard  with  what  might  be  termed  a  buoyant 
gait,  and,  mounting  the  porch,  knocked  on  the  door 
with  the  handle  of  her  umbrella.  After  some  delay, 
a  colored  woman  appeared,  and  as  soon  as  the  door 
was  opened,  Mrs.  Keswick  walked  in. 

"Where  is  your  master?"  said  she,  forgetting  all 
about  the  Emancipation  Act. 

"  Mahs'  Eobert  is  in  the  lib'ery,"  said  the  woman. 

"And  where  are  Miss  Roberta  March  and  Master 
Junius  Keswick  ?  " 

"  Miss  Eob  went  Norf  day  'fore  yestiddy,"  was  the 
answer,  "  an'  Mahs'  Junius  done  gone  'long  to  wait  on 
her.  Who  shall  I  tell  Mahs'  Eobert  is  come? " 

"  There  is  no  need  to  tell  him  who  I  am,"  said  Mrs. 
Keswick.  "  Just  take  me  in  to  him.  That's  all  you 
have  to  do." 

A  good  deal  doubtful  of  the  propriety  of  this  pro- 
363 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

ceeding,  but  more  doubtful  of  the  propriety  of  oppos 
ing  the  wishes  of  such  a  determined-looking  visitor, 
the  woman  stepped  to  the  back  part  of  the  hall,  and 
opened  the  door.  The  moment  she  did  so,  Mrs.  Ke»- 
wick  entered,  and  closed  the  door  behind  her. 

Mr.  Brandon  was  seated  in  an  arm-chair  by  a  table, 
and  not  very  far  from  a  wood  fire  of  a  size  suited  to 
the  season.  His  slippered  feet  were  on  a  cushioned 
stool ;  his  eye-glasses  were  carefully  adjusted  on  the 
capacious  bridge  of  his  nose  ;  and,  intent  upon  a  news 
paper  which  had  arrived  by  that  morning's  mail,  he 
presented  the  appearance  of  a  very  well  satisfied  old 
gentleman  in  very  comfortable  circumstances.  But 
when  he  turned  his  head  and  saw  the  widow  Kes- 
wick  close  the  door  behind  her,  every  idea  of  satisfac 
tion  or  comfort  seemed  to  vanish  from  his  mind.  He 
dropped  the  paper  j  he  rose  to  his  feet ;  he  took  off 
his  eyeglasses ;  he  turned  somewhat  red  in  the  face ; 
and  he  ejaculated :  "  What,  madam !  So  it  is  you, 
Mrs.  Keswick?" 

The  old  lady  did  not  immediately  answer.  Her 
head  dropped  a  little  on  one  side,  a  broad  smile  be- 
wrinkled  the  lower  part  of  her  well-worn  visage,  and, 
with  her  eyes  half  closed  behind  her  heavy  spectacles, 
she  held  out  both  her  hands,  the  purple  umbrella  in 
one  of  them,  and  exclaimed  in  a  voice  of  happy  fervor  : 
"  Robert !  I  am  yours  ! " 

Mr.  Brandon,  recovered  from  his  first  surprise,  had 
made  a  step  forward  to  go  round  the  table  and  greet 
his  visitor ;  but  at  these  words  he  stopped  as  if  he  had 
been  shot.  Perception,  understanding,  and  even  ani 
mation,  seemed  to  have  left  him  as  he  vacantly  stared 
at  the  elderly  female  with  purple  sunbonnet  and  um- 

364 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

brella,  blue  calico  gown,  red  shawl,  and  coarse  boots, 
who  held  out  her  arms  towards  him,  and  who  gazed 
upon  him  with  an  air  of  tender,  though  decrepit, 
fondness. 

"  Don't  you  understand  me,  Kobert !  "  she  continued. 
"  Don't  you  remember  the  day,  many  a  good  long  year 
ago,  it  is  true,  when  we  walked  together  down  there 
by  the  branch,  and  you  asked  me  to  be  yours  ?  I  re- 
fused  you,  Kobert,  and  although  you  went  down  on 
your  knees  in  the  damp  grass  and  besought  me  to 
give  you  my  heart,  I  would  not  do  it.  But  I  did  not 
know  you  then  as  I  know  you  now,  Eobert,  and  the 
words  of  true  love  which  you  spoke  to  me  that  morn 
ing  come  to  me  now  with  a  sweetness  which  I  was  too 
young  and  trifling  to  notice  then.  That  heart  is  yours 
now,  Eobert.  I  am  yours."  And  with  these  words 
she  made  a  step  forward. 

At  this  demonstration  Mr.  Brandon  appeared  sud 
denly  to  recover  his  consciousness,  and  he  precipitately 
made  two  steps  backward,  just  missing  tumbling  over 
his  footstool  into  the  fireplace. 

"  Madam ! "  he  exclaimed,  "  what  are  you  talking 
about?" 

"  Of  the  days  of  our  courtship  and  your  love,  Bob- 
ert,"  she  said.  "My  love  did  not  come  then,  but  it 
is  here  now— here  now,"  she  repeated,  putting  the 
hand  with  the  umbrella  in  it  on  her  breast. 

"  Madam,"  exclaimed  the  old  gentleman,  "  you  must 
be  raving  crazy !  Those  things  to  which  you  allude 
happened  nearly  half  a  century  ago  j  and  since  that 
you  have  been  married  and  settled,  and—" 

" Kobert,"  interrupted  the  widow  Keswick,  "you 
are  mistaken.  It  is  not  quite  forty-five  years  since 

365 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

that  morning,  and  why  should  hearts  like  ours  allow 
the  passage  of  time,  or  the  mere  circumstance  of  what 
might  be  called  an  outside  marriage,  but  now  extinct, 
to  come  between  them?  There  is  many  a  spring, 
Robert,  which  does  not  show  when  a  man  first  begins 
to  dig,  but  it  will  bubble  up  in  time.  And,  Eobert, 
it  bubbles  now."  And  with  her  head  bent  a  little 
downward,  although  her  eyes  were  still  fixed  upon 
him,  she  made  another  step  in  his  direction. 

Mr.  Brandon  now  backed  himself  flat  against  some 
book-shelves  in  his  rear.  The  perspiration  began  to 
roll  from  his  face,  and  his  whole  form  trembled. 
"  Mrs.  Keswick  !  Madam ! "  he  exclaimed,  "  you  will 
drive  me  mad ! " 

The  old  lady  dropped  the  end  of  her  umbrella  on 
the  floor,  rested  her  two  hands  on  the  head  of  it,  set 
tled  herself  into  an  easy  position  to  speak,  and,  with 
her  head  thrown  back,  fixed  a  steady  gaze  upon  the 
trembling  old  gentleman.  "Eobert,"  she  said,  "do 
not  try  to  crush  emotions  which  always  were  a  credit 
to  you,  although  in  those  days  gone  by  I  didn't  tell 
you  so.  Your  hair  was  black  then,  Eobert,  and  you 
looked  taller,  for  you  hadn't  a  stoop  j  and  your  face 
was  very  smooth,  and  so  was  mine  ;  and  I  remember  I 
had  on  a  white  dress  with  a  broad  ribbon  around  the 
waist  5  and  neither  of  us  wore  specs.  What  you  said 
to  me  was  very  fresh  and  sweet,  Eobert,  and  it  all 
comes  to  me  now  as  it  never  came  before.  You  have 
never  loved  another,  Eobert,  and  you  don't  know  how 
happy  it  makes  me  to  think  that,  and  to  know  that  I 
can  come  to  you  and  find  you  the  same  true  and  con 
stant  lover  that  you  were  when,  forty-five  years  ago, 
you  went  down  on  your  knees  to  me  by  the  branch. 

366 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

We  can't  stifle  those  feelings  of  bygone  days  which 
well  up  in  our  bosoms,  Robert.  After  all  these  years 
I  have  learned  what  a  prize  your  true  love  is,  and  I 
return  it.  I  am  yours." 

At  this  Mr.  Brandon  opened  his  mouth  with  a  spas 
modic  gasp,  but  no  word  came  from  him.  He  looked 
to  the  right  and  left,  and  then  made  a  lunge  to  one 
side,  as  if  he  would  run  around  the  old  lady  and  gain 
the  door.  But  Mrs.  Keswick  was  too  quick  for  him. 
With  two  sudden  springs  she  reached  the  door  and 
put  her  back  against  it. 

"Don't  leave  me,  Robert,"  she  said,  "I  have  not 
told  you  all.  Don't  you  remember  this  breastpin?" 
unfastening  the  large  silver  brooch  from  her  shawl  and 
holding  it  out  to  him.  "  You  gave  it  to  me,  Kobert ; 
there  were  almost  tears  of  joy  in  your  eyes  on  the  first 
day  I  wore  it,  although  I  was  careful  to  let  you  know 
it  meant  nothing.  Where  are  those  tears  to-day, 
Kobert?  It  means  something  now.  I  have  kept  it 
all  these  years,  although  in  the  lifetime  of  Mr.  Kes 
wick  it  was  never  cleaned ;  and  I  wore  it  to-day, 
Robert,  that  your  eyes  might  rest  upon  it  once  again, 
and  that  you  might  speak  to  me  the  words  you  spoke 
to  me  the  day  after  I  let  you  pin  it  on  my  white 
neckerchief.  You  waited  then,  Robert,  a  whole  day 
before  you  spoke ;  but  you  needn't  wait  now.  Let 
your  heart  speak  out,  dear  Robert." 

But  dear  Robert  appeared  to  have  no  power  to 
speak,  on  this  or  any  other  subject.  He  was  half  sit 
ting,  half  leaning  on  the  corner  of  a  table  which  stood 
by  a  window,  out  of  which  he  gave  sudden  agonized 
and  longing  glances,  as  if,  had  he  strength  enough,  he 
would  raise  the  sash  and  leap  out. 

367 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

The  old  lady,  however,  had  speech  enough  for  two. 
"Robert,"  she  exclaimed,  "how  happy  may  we  be, 
yet !  If  you  wish  to  give  up  to  a  younger  couple 
this  spacious  mansion,  these  fine  grounds  and  noble 
elms,  and  come  to  my  humble  home,  I  shall  only  say 
to  you,  l  Eobert,  come !  '  I  shall  be  alone  there, 
Robert,  and  shall  welcome  you  with  joy.  I  have  no 
body  now  to  give  anything  to.  The  late  Mrs.  Null, 
by  which  I  mean  my  niece,  will  marry  a  man  who,  if 
reports  don't  lie,  is  rich  enough  to  make  her  want 
nothing  that  I  have ;  and  as  for  Junius,  he  is  to  have 
your  property,  as  we  all  know.  So  all  I  have  is  yours, 
if  you  choose  to  come  to  me,  Robert.  But  if  you 
would  rather  live  here,  I  will  come  to  you,  and  the 
young  people  can  board  with  us  until  your  decease ; 
after  that  I'll  board  with  them.  And  I'm  not  sure, 
Robert,  but  I  like  the  plan  of  coming  here  best. 
There  are  lots  of  improvements  we  could  make  on  this 
place,  with  you  to  furnish  the  money,  and  me  to  ad 
vise  and  direct.  The  first  thing  I'd  do  would  be  to 
have  down  those  abominable  steps  over  the  front  fence, 
and  put  a  decent  gate  in  its  place ;  and  then  we  would 
have  a  gravelled  walk  across  the  yard  to  the  porch, 
wide  enough  for  you  and  me,  Robert,  to  walk  together 
arm  in  arm  when  we  would  go  out  to  look  over  the 
plantation,  or  stroll  down  to  that  spot  on  the  branch, 
Robert,  where  the  first  plightings  of  our  troth  began." 

The  words  of  tender  reminiscence,  and  of  fond, 
though  rather  late  devotion,  with  which  Mrs.  Kes- 
wick  had  stabbed  and  gashed  the  soul  of  the  poor  old 
gentleman  had  at  first  deranged  his  senses,  and  then 
driven  him  into  a  state  of  abject  despair ;  but  the  prac 
tical  remarks  which  succeeded  seemed  to  have  a  more 

368 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

t 

direful  effect  upon  him.  The  idea  of  the  being  with 
the  sunbonnet  and  the  umbrella  entering  into  his  life 
at  Midbranch,  tearing  down  the  broad  steps  which 
his  honored  father  had  built,  cutting  a  gravelled  path 
across  the  green  turf  which  had  been  the  pride  of 
generations,  and  doing  no  man  could  say  what  else 
of  advice  and  direction,  seemed  to  strike  a  chill  of 
terror  into  his  very  bones. 

The  quick  perception  of  Mrs.  Keswick  told  her  that 
it  was  time  to  terminate  the  interview.  "I  will  not 
say  anything  more  to  you  now,  Robert,"  she  said. 
"  Of  course  you  have  been  surprised  at  my  coming  to 
you  to-day  and  accepting  your  offer  of  marriage,  and 
you  must  have  time  to  quiet  your  mind  and  think  it 
over.  I  don't  doubt  your  affection,  Robert,  and  I 
don't  want  to  hurry  you.  I  am  going  to  stay  here 
to-night,  so  that  we  can  have  plenty  of  time  to  settle 
everything  comfortably.  I'll  go  now  and  get  one  of 
the  servants  to  show  me  to  a  room  where  I  can  take 
off  my  things.  I'll  see  you  again  at  dinner." 

And,  with  a  smile  of  antiquated  coyness,  she  left  the 
room. 


369 


CHAPTER  XXX 

MR.  BRANDON  was  not  a  weak  man,  nor  one  very  sus 
ceptible  to  outside  influences ;  but,  in  the  whole  course 
of  his  life,  nothing  so  extraordinarily  nerve-stirring 
had  occurred  to  him  as  this  visit  of  old  Mrs.  Keswick 
endeavoring  to  appear  in  the  character  of  the  young 
creature  he  had  wooed  some  forty-five  years  before. 
For  a  long  time  Mrs.  Keswick  had  been  the  enemy  of 
himself  and  his  family,  and  many  a  bitter  onslaught 
she  had  made  upon  him,  both  by  letter  and  by  word 
of  mouth.  These  he  had  borne  with  the  utmost  bra 
very  and  coolness,  and  there  were  times  when  they 
even  afforded  him  entertainment.  But  this  most 
astounding  attack  was  something  against  which  no 
man  could  have  been  prepared,*  and  Mr.  Brandon, 
suddenly  pounced  upon  in  the  midst  of  his  com 
fortable  bachelordom  by  a  malevolent  sorceress,  and 
hurled  back  to  the  days  of  his  youth,  was  shown  himself 
kneeling,  not  at  the  feet  of  a  fair  young  girl,  but  before 
a  horrible  old  woman. 

This  amazing  and  startling  state  of  affairs  was 
too  much  for  him  immediately  to  comprehend.  It 
stunned  and  bewildered  him.  Such,  indeed,  was  the 
effect  upon  him  that  the  first  act  of  his  mind,  when 
he  was  left  alone  and  it  began  to  act,  was  to  ask  of 

370 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

itself  if  there  were  really  any  grounds  upon  which 
Mrs.  Keswick  could,  with  any  reason,  take  up  her 
position?  The  absolute  absurdity  of  her  position, 
however,  became  more  and  more  evident  as  Mr. 
Brandon?s  mind  began  to  straighten  itself  and  stand 
up.  And  now  he  grew  angry.  Anger  was  a  passion 
with  which  he  was  not  at  all  unfamiliar,  and  the  ex 
ercise  of  it  seemed  to  do  him  good.  When  he  had 
walked  up  and  down  his  library  for  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  he  felt  almost  like  his  natural  self  j  and  with 
many  nods  of  his  head  and  shakes  of  his  fist,  he  de 
clared  that  the  old  woman  was  crazy,  and  that  he 
would  bundle  her  home  just  as  soon  as  he  could. 

By  dinner-time  he  had  cooled  down  a  good  deal, 
and  he  resolved  to  treat  her  with  the  respect  due  to 
her  age  and  former  condition  of  sanity,  but  to  take 
care  that  she  should  not  again  be  alone  with  him,  and 
to  arrange  that  she  should  return  to  her  home  that 
day. 

Mrs.  Keswick  came  to  the  table  with  a  smiling  face, 
and  wearing  a  close-fitting  white  cap,  which  looked 
like  a  portion  of  her  night-gear,  tied  under  her  chin 
with  broad,  stiff  strings.  In  this  she  appeared  to  her 
host  far  more  hideous  than  when  wearing  her  sun- 
bonnet.  Mr.  Brandon  had  arranged  that  two  servants 
should  wait  upon  the  table,  so  that  one  of  them  should 
always  be  in  the  room ;  but  in  his  supposition  that  the 
presence  of  a  third  person  would  have  any  effect  upon 
the  expression  of  Mrs.  Keswick's  fond  regard  he  was 
mistaken.  The  meal  had  scarcely  begun  when  she 
looked  around  the  room  with  wide-open  eyes,  and 
exclaimed  :  "  Eobert,  if  we  should  conclude  to  remain 
here,  I  think  we  will  have  this  room  repapered  with 

371 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

some  light-colored  paper.    I  like  a  light  dining-room. 
This  is  entirely  too  dark." 

The  two  servants,  one  of  whom  was  our  old  friend 
Peggy,  actually  stopped  short  in  their  duties  at  this 
remark ;  and  as  for  Mr.  Brandon,  his  appetite  imme 
diately  left  him,  to  return  no  more  during  that  meal. 

He  was  obliged  to  make  some  answer  to  this  speech, 
and  so  he  briefly  remarked  that  he  had  no  desire  to 
alter  the  appearance  of  his  dining-room,  and  then 
hastened  to  change  the  conversation  by  making  some 
inquiries  about  that  interesting  young  woman,  her 
niece,  who,  he  had  been  informed,  was  not  a  married 
lady,  as  he  had  supposed  her  to  be. 

At  this  intelligence  Peggy  dropped  two  spoons  and 
a  fork ;  she  had  never  heard  it  before. 

"The  late  Mrs.  Null,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick,  "is  a 
young  woman  who  likes  to  cut  her  clothes  after  her 
own  patterns.  They  may  be  becoming  to  her  when 
they  are  made  up,  or  they  may  not  be.  But  I  am 
inclined  to  think  she  has  got  a  pretty  good  head  on 
her  shoulders,  and  perhaps  she  knows  what  suits  her 
as  well  as  any  of  us.  I  can't  say  it  was  easy  to  forgive 
the  trick  she  played  on  me,  her  own  aunt,  and  just 
the  same,  in  fact,  as  her  mother.  But,  Kobert,"— and 
as  she  said  this  the  old  lady  laid  down  her  knife  and 
fork  and  looked  tenderly  at  Mr.  Brandon— "I  have 
determined  to  forgive  everybody  and  to  overlook 
everything,  and  I  do  this  as  much  for  your  sake,  dear 
Kobert,  as  for  my  own.  It  wouldn't  do  for  a  couple 
of  our  age  to  be  keeping  up  grudges  against  the  young 
people  for  their  ways  of  getting  out  of  marriages  or 
getting  into  them.  We  will  have  my  niece  and  her 
husband  here  sometimes,  won't  we,  Bobert?" 

372 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

Mr.  Brandon  straightened  himself  and  remarked : 
"Mr.  Croft,  whom  I  have  heard  your  niece  is  to 
marry,  will  be  quite  welcome  here,  with  his  wife." 
Then,  putting  his  napkin  on  the  table,  and  pushing 
back  his  chair,  he  said :  "  Now,  madam,  you  must  ex 
cuse  me,  for  I  have  orders  to  give  to  some  of  my 
people  which  I  had  forgotten  until  this  moment.  But 
do  not  let  me  interfere  with  your  dinner.  Pray  con 
tinue  your  meal." 

Never  before  had  Mr.  Brandon  been  known  to  leave 
his  dinner  until  he  had  finished  it,  and  he  was  not  at 
all  accustomed  to  give  such  a  poor  reason  for  his 
actions  as  the  one  he  gave  now ;  but  it  was  simply  im 
possible  for  him  to  sit  any  longer  at  table  and  have 
that  old  woman  talk  in  that  shocking  manner  before 
the  servants. 

"  Kobert,"  cried  Mrs.  Keswick,  as  he  left  the  room, 
"I'll  save  some  dessert  for  you,  and  we'll  eat  it  to 
gether." 

Mr.  Brandon's  first  impulse,  when  he  found  himself 
out  of  the  dining-room,  was  to  mount  his  horse  and 
ride  away ;  but  there  was  no  place  to  which  he  wished 
to  ride,  and  he  was  a  man  who  was  very  loath  to 
leave  the  comforts  of  his  home.  "  No,"  he  said.  "  She 
must  go,  and  not  I."  And  then  he  went  into  his  parlor, 
and  strode  up  and  down.  As  soon  as  Mrs.  Keswick 
had  finished  her  dinner,  he  would  see  her  there  and 
speak  his  mind  to  her.  He  had  determined  that  he 
would  not  again  be  alone  with  her,  but  since  the 
presence  of  others  was  no  restraint  whatever  upon 
her,  it  had  become  absolutely  necessary  that  he  should 
speak  with  her  alone. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  widow  Keswick,  with 
373 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

a  brisk,  blithe  step,  entered  the  parlor.  "I  couldn't 
eat  without  you,  Robert,"  she  cried,  "  and  so  I  really 
haven't  half  finished  my  dinner.  Did  you  have  to 
come  in  here  to  speak  to  your  people?" 

Mr.  Brandon  stepped  to  the  door  and  closed  it. 
"  Madam,"  he  said,  "  it  will  be  impossible  for  me,  in 
the  absence  of  my  niece,  to  entertain  you  here  to 
night,  and  so  it  would  be  prudent  for  you  to  start  for 
home  as  soon  as  possible,  as  the  days  are  short.  It 
would  be  too  much  of  a  journey  for  your  horse  to  go 
back  again  to-day,  and  your  vehicle  is  an  open  one ; 
therefore  I  have  ordered  my  carriage  to  be  prepared, 
and  you  may  trust  my  driver  to  take  you  safely  home, 
even  if  it  should  be  dark  before  you  get  there.  If 
you  desire  it,  there  is  a  young  maid-servant  here  who 
will  go  with  you." 

"  Robert,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick,  approaching  the  old 
gentleman  and  gazing  fondly  upward  at  him,  "you 
are  so  good  and  thoughtful  and  sweet.  But  you  need 
not  put  yourself  to  all  that  trouble  for  me.  I  shall 
stay  here  to-night,  and  in  your  house,  dear  Robert,  I 
can  take  care  of  myself  a  great  deal  better  than  any 
lady  could  take  care  of  me." 

"  Madam,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Brandon,  "  I  want  you  to 
stop  calling  me  by  my  first  name  !  You  have  no  right 
to  do  so,  and  I  won't  stand  it." 

"  Robert,"  said  the  old  lady,  looking  at  him  with  an 
air  of  tender  upbraiding,  "  you  forget  that  I  am  yours, 
now  and  forever." 

Never  since  he  had  arrived  at  man's  estate,  and 
probably  not  before,  had  Mr.  Brandon  spoken  in  im 
proper  language  to  a  lady,  but  now  it  was  all  he  could 
do  to  restrain  himself  from  the  ejaculation  of  an  oath  j 

374 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

but  he  did  restrain  himself,  and  only  exclaimed : 
"  Confound  it,  madam,  I  cannot  stand  this  !  Why  do 
you  come  here,  to  drive  me  crazy  with  your  senseless 
ravings  f  " 

"  Kobert,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick,  very  composedly,  "  I 
do  not  wonder  that  my  coming  to  you  and  accepting 
the  proposals  which  you  once  so  heartily  made  to  me, 
and  from  which  you  have  never  gone  back,  should 
work  a  good  deal  upon  your  feelings.  It  is  quite 
natural,  and  I  expected  it.  Therefore  don't  hesitate 
about  speaking  out  your  mind ;  I  shall  not  be  offended. 
So  that  we  belong  to  each  other  for  the  rest  of  our 
days,  I  don't  mind  what  you  say  now,  when  it  is  all 
new  and  unexpected  to  you.  You  and  I  have  had 
many  a  difference  of  opinion,  Eobert,  and  your  plans 
were  not  my  plans.  But  things  have  turned  out  as 
you  wished,  and  you  have  what  you  have  always 
wanted ;  and  with  the  other  good  things,  Robert,  you 
can  take  me."  And,  as  she  finished  speaking,  she  held 
out  both  hands  to  her  companion. 

With  a  stamp  of  his  foot  and  a  kick  at  a  chair 
which  stood  in  his  way,  Mr.  Brandon  precipitately 
left  the  room,  and  slammed  the  door  after  him ;  and 
if  Peggy  had  not  nimbly  sprung  to  one  side,  he  would 
have  stumbled  over  her,  and  have  had  a  very  bad  fall 
for  a  man  of  his  age. 

It  was  not  ten  minutes  after  this  that,  looking 
out  of  a  window,  Mrs.  Keswick  saw  a  saddled  horse 
brought  into  the  back  yard.  She  hastened  into  the 
hall,  and  found  Peggy.  "  Kun  to  Mr.  Brandon,"  she 
said,  "  and  bid  him  good-by  for  me.  I  am  going  up 
stairs  to  get  ready  to  go  home,  and  haven't  time  to 
speak  to  him  myself  before  he  starts  on  his  ride." 

375 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

At  the  receipt  of  this  message  the  heart  of  Mr. 
Brandon  gave  a  bound  which  actually  helped  him  to 
get  into  the  saddle ;  but  he  did  not  hesitate  in  his 
purpose  of  instant  departure.  If  he  stayed  but  for  a 
moment,  she  might  come  out  to  him  and  change  her 
mind  j  so  he  put  spurs  to  his  horse  and  galloped  away, 
merely  stopping  long  enough,  as  he  passed  the  stables, 
to  give  orders  that  the  carriage  be  prepared  for  Mrs. 
Keswick,  and  taken  round  to  the  front. 

As  he  rode  through  the  cool  air  of  that  fine  Novem 
ber  afternoon,  the  spirits  of  Mr.  Brandon  rose.  He 
felt  a  serene  satisfaction  in  assuring  himself  that 
although  he  had  been  very  angry  indeed  with  Mrs. 
Keswick,  on  account  of  her  most  unheard-of  and  out 
rageous  conduct,  yet  he  had  not  allowed  his  indigna 
tion  to  burst  out  against  her  in  any  way  of  which  he 
would  afterwards  be  ashamed.  Some  hasty  words  had 
escaped  him,  but  they  were  of  no  importance,  and, 
under  the  circumstances,  no  one  could  have  avoided 
speaking  them.  But  when  he  had  addressed  her  at 
any  length  he  had  spoken  dispassionately  and  prac 
tically,  and  she,  being  at  bottom  a  practical  woman, 
had  seen  the  sense  of  his  advice,  and  had  gone  home 
comfortably  in  his  carriage.  Whether  she  took  her 
insane  fancies  home  with  her  or  dropped  them  on 
the  road,  it  mattered  very  little  to  him,  so  that  he 
never  saw  her  again ;  and  he  did  not  intend  to  see  her 
again.  If  she  came  again  to  his  house,  he  would 
leave  it  and  not  return  until  she  had  gone ;  but  he  had 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  would  be  forced  into  any 
such  exceedingly  disagreeable  action  as  this.  He  did 
not  believe  she  would  ever  come  back.  For,  unless 
she  were  really  crazy,— and  in  that  case  she  ought  to 

376 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

be  put  ?n  the  lunatic  asylum,— she  could  not  keep  up, 
for  any  length  of  time,  the  extraordinary  and  out 
rageous  delusion  that  he  would  be  willing  to  renew 
the  feelings  that  he  had  entertained  for  her  in  her 
youth. 

Mr.  Brandon  rode  until  nearly  dark,  for  it  took  a 
good  while  to  free  his  mind  from  the  effects  of  the 
excitements  and  torments  of  that  day  j  but  when  he 
entered  the  house  and  took  his  seat  in  his  library 
chair  by  the  fire,  he  had  almost  regained  his  usual 
composed  and  well -satisfied  frame  of  mind. 

Then,  through  the  quietly  opened  door,  came  Mrs. 
Keswick,  and  stealthily  stepping  towards  him  in  the 
fitful  light  of  the  blazing  logs,  she  put  her  hand  on  his 
arm  and  said :  "  Dear  Robert,  how  glad  I  am  to  see 
you  back ! " 

The  next  morning,  about  ten  o'clock,  Mrs.  Keswick 
sent  her  eighteenth  or  twentieth  message  to  Mr.  Bran 
don,  who  had  shut  himself  up  in  his  room  since  a  lit 
tle  before  supper-time  on  the  previous  evening.  The 
message  was  sent  by  Peggy,  and  she  was  instructed  to 
shout  it  outside  of  her  master's  door  until  he  took 
notice  of  it.  Its  purport  was  that  it  was  necessary 
that  Mrs.  Keswick  should  go  home  to-day,  and  that 
her  horse  was  harnessed  and  she  was  now  ready  to  go, 
but  that  she  could  not  think  of  leaving  until  she  had 
seen  Mr.  Brandon  again.  She  would  therefore  wait 
until  he  was  ready  to  come  down. 

Mr.  Brandon  looked  out  of  the  window  and  saw  the 
spring- wagon  at  the  outside  of  the  broad  stile,  with 
Plez  standing  at  the  sorrel's  head.  He  remembered 
that  the  venerable  demon  had  said,  at  the  first,  that 
she  intended  to  stay  but  one  night,  and  he  could  but 

377 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

believe  that  she  was  now  really  going.  Knowing  her 
as  he  did,  however,  he  was  very  well  aware  that  if  she 
had  said  she  would  not  leave  until  she  had  seen  him, 
she  would  stay  in  his  house  for  a  year  unless  he  sooner 
went  down  to  her  j  therefore  he  opened  his  door  and 
slowly  and  feebly  descended  the  stairs. 

"  My  dear,  dear  Robert ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Keswick, 
totally  regardless  of  the  fact  that  Peggy  was  standing 
at  the  front  door  with  her  valise  in  her  hand,  and  that 
there  was  another  servant  in  the  hall,  "  how  pale  and 
haggard  and  worn  you  look !  You  must  be  quite 
unwell,  and  I  don't  know  but  that  I  ought  to  stay 
here  and  take  care  of  you." 

At  these  words  a  look  of  agony  passed  over  the  old 
man's  face,  but  he  said  nothing. 

"But  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  stay  any  longer  this 
time,"  continued  the  widow  Keswick,  "  for  my  niece 
would  not  know  what  had  become  of  me,  and  there 
are  things  at  home  that  I  must  attend  to.  But  I  will 
come  again.  Don't  think  I  intend  to  desert  you,  dear 
Robert.  You  shall  see  me  soon  again.  But  while  I 
am  gone,"  she  said,  turning  to  the  two  servants,  "  I 
want  you  maids  to  take  good  care  of  your  master. 
.You  must  do  it  for  his  sake,  for  he  has  always  been 
kind  to  you ;  but  I  also  want  you  to  do  it  for  my  sake. 
Don't  you  forget  that.  And  now,  dear  Robert,  good- 
by."  As  she  spoke  she  extended  her  hand  towards 
the  old  gentleman. 

Without  a  word,  but  with  a  good  deal  of  apparent 
reluctance,  he  took  the  long,  bony  hand  in  his,  and 
probably  would  have  instantly  dropped  it  again,  had 
not  Mrs.  Keswick  given  him  a  most  hearty  clutch 
and  a  vigorous  and  long-continued  shake. 

378 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  It  is  hard,  dear  Bobert,"  she  said,  "  for  us  to  part 
with  nothing  but  a  hand-shake,  but  there  are  people 
about,  and  this  will  have  to  do."  And  then,  after 
urging  him  to  take  good  care  of  his  health,  so  valuable 
to  them  both,  and  assuring  him  that  he  would  soon  see 
her  again,  she  gave  his  hand  a  final  shake,  and  left 
him.  Accompanied  by  Peggy,  she  went  out  to  the 
spring- wagon  and  clambered  into  it.  It  almost  sur 
passes  belief  that  Mr.  Brandon,  a  Virginia  gentleman 
of  the  old  school,  should  have  stood  in  his  hall  and 
have  seen  an  old  lady  leave  his  house  and  get  into  a 
vehicle  without  accompanying  and  assisting  her ;  but 
such  was  the  case  on  this  occasion.  He  seemed  to  have 
forgotten  his  traditions  and  to  have  lost  his  impulses. 
He  simply  stood  where  the  widow  Keswick  had  left 
him,  and  gazed  at  her. 

When  she  was  seated  and  ready  to  start,  the  old 
lady  turned  towards  him,  called  out  to  him  in  a  cheery 
voice,  "Good-by,  Bobert!"  and  kissed  her  hand  to 
him. 

Mrs.  Keswick  slowly  drove  away,  and  Mr.  Brandon 
stood  at  his  hall  door  gazing  after  her  until  she  was 
entirely  out  of  sight.  Then  he  ejaculated:  "The 
devil's  daughter ! "  and  went  into  his  library. 

"  I  wonders,"  said  Peggy,  when  she  returned  to  the 
kitchen,  "how  yon-all's  gwine  to  like  habin'  dat  ole 
Miss  Keswick  libin'  h'yar  as  yon-all's  mistiss  ?  " 

"Who's  gwine  to  hab  her?"  growled  Aunt  Judy. 

"You-all  is,"  sturdily  retorted  Peggy.  "Dar  ain't 
no  use  tryin'  to  git  out  ob  dat.  Dat  old  Miss  Keswick 
done  gone  an'  kunjered  Mahs'  Kobert,  an'  dey's  boun' 
to  git  mar'ed.  I  done  heared  all  'bout  it,  an'  she's 
comin'  h'yar  to  lib  wid  Mahs'  Kobert.  But  dat  don? 

379 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

make  no  dif  'rence  to  me.  I'se  gwine  to  lib  wid  Mats* 
Junius  an'  Miss  Rob  in  New  York,  I  is.  But  I'se 
mighty  sorry  for  you-all." 

"  You  Peggy,"  shouted  the  irate  Aunt  Judy,  "  shut 
up  wid  your  fool  talk !  When  Mahs7  Kobert  marry 
dat  ole  jimpsun-weed,  de  angel  Gabr'el  blow  his  hohn, 
shuh." 

Slowly  driving  along  the  road  to  her  home,  the 
widow  Keswick  gazed  cheerfully  at  the  blue  sky 
above  her  and  the  pleasant  autumn  scenery  around 
her,  sniffed  the  fine  fresh  air,  delicately  scented  with 
the  odor  of  falling  leaves,  and  settling  herself  into  a 
more  comfortable  position  on  her  seat,  she  compla 
cently  said  to  herself :  "  Well,  I  reckon  dear  Kobert 
is  about  as  happy  as  I  can  make  him." 


380 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THERE  were  two  reasons  why  Peggy  could  not  go  to 
live  with  "  Mahs'  Junius  and  Miss  Eob  "  in  New  York. 
In  the  first  place,  this  couple  had  no  intention  of  set 
ting  up  an  establishment  in  that  city ;  and  secondly, 
Peggy,  as  Roberta  well  knew,  was  not  adapted  by 
nature  to  be  her  maid,  or  the  maid  of  any  one  else. 
Peggy's  true  vocation  in  life  was  to  throw  her  far 
away  gaze  into  futurity,  and,  as  far  as  in  her  lay,  to 
adapt  present  circumstances  to  what  she  supposed  was 
going  to  happen.  It  would  have  delighted  her  soul 
if  she  could  have  been  the  adept  in  conjuring  which 
she  firmly  believed  the  widow  Keswick  to  be;  but 
as  she  possessed  no  such  gift,  she  made  up  the  defi 
ciency,  as  well  as  she  could,  by  mixing  up  her  mind, 
her  soul,  and  her  desires  into  a  sort  of  witch's  hodge 
podge,  which  she  thrust  as  a  spell  into  the  affairs  of 
other  people.  Twice  had  the  devices  of  this  stupid- 
looking  wooden  peg  of  a  negro  girl  stopped  Lawrence 
Croft  in  the  path  he  was  following  in  his  pursuit  of 
Roberta  March.  If  Lawrence  had  known,  at  the 
time,  what  Peggy  was  doing,  he  would  have  con 
sidered  her  an  unmitigated  little  demon;  but  after 
wards,  if  he  could  have  known  of  it,  he  would  have 
thought  her  a  very  unprepossessing  and  conscience 
less  guardian  angel. 

381 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

As  it  was,  lie  knew  not  what  she  had  done,  and 
did  not  consider  her  at  all. 

Junius  Keswick  took  nmch  more  delight  in  farming 
than  he  did  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  it  was  only 
because  he  had  felt  himself  obliged  to  do  so  that  he 
had  adopted  the  legal  profession.  To  be  a  farmer, 
one  must  have  a  farm  j  but  a  lawyer  can  frequently 
make  a  living  from  the  lands  of  other  men.  He  was 
very  willing,  therefore,  to  agree  to  the  plan  which 
for  years  had  been  Mr.  Brandon's  most  cherished 
scheme :  that  he  and  Roberta  should  make  their 
home  at  Midbranch,  and  that  he  should  take  charge 
of  the  estate,  which  would  be  his  wife's  property  after 
the  old  gentleman's  decease.  Roberta  was  as  fond  of 
the  country  as  was  Junius,  but  she  was  also  a  city 
woman ;  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  couple  should 
spend  a  portion  of  each  winter  in  New  York,  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  March. 

Junius  and  Roberta,  as  well  as  her  father,  hoped 
very  much  that  they  might  be  able  to  induce  Mr. 
Brandon  to  come  to  New  York  to  attend  the  wedding, 
which  was  to  take  place  the  middle  of  January ;  but 
they  were  not  confident  of  success,  for  they  knew  the 
old  gentleman  disliked  very  much  to  travel,  especially 
in  winter.  Three  very  pressing  letters  were  therefore 
written  to  Mr.  Brandon  j  and  the  writers  were  much 
surprised  to  receive,  in  a  short  time,  a  collective 
answer,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  would  not  only  be 
present  at  the  wedding,  but  that  he  thought  of  spend 
ing  several  months  in  New  York.  It  would  be  very 
lonely  at  Midbranch,  he  wrote,  without  Roberta,— 
though  why  it  should  be  more  so  this  year  than  dur 
ing  preceding  winters  he  did  not  explain,— and  he  felt 

382 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

a  desire  to  see  the  changes  that  had  taken  place  in 
the  metropolis  since  he  had  visited  it,  years  ago. 

They  would  not  have  been  so  much  surprised  had 
they  known  that  Mr.  Brandon  did  not  feel  himself  safe 
in  his  own  home,  by  night  or  by  day.  Frequently 
had  he  gazed  out  of  a  window  at  the  point  in  the  road 
on  which  the  first  sight  of  an  approaching  spring- 
wagon  could  have  been  caught,  and  had  said  to  him 
self  :  "  If  only  Roberta  were  here,  that  old  hag  would 
not  dare  to  speak  a  word  to  me  !  I  don't  want  to  go 
away,  but,  by  George !  I  don't  see  how  I  can  stay 
here  without  Bob." 

There  was  a  short,  very  black,  and  somewhat  bow- 
legged  negro  man  on  the  place,  named  Israel  Bona 
parte,  who  lived  in  a  little  cabin  by  himself,  and  was 
noted  for  his  unsocial  disposition  and  his  taciturnity. 
To  him  Mr.  Brandon  went  one  day,  and  said :  "  Israel, 
I  want  you  to  go  to  work  on  the  fence-rows  on  my 
side  of  the  road  to  Hewlett's.  Grub  up  the  bushes, 
clear  out  the  vines  and  weeds,  and  see  that  the  rails 
and  posts  are  all  in  order.  That  will  be  a  job  that  I 
expect  will  last  you  until  the  roads  begin  to  get  heavy. 
And,  by  the  way,  Israel,  while  you  are  at  work  I 
want  you  to  keep  a  lookout  for  any  visitors  that  may 
turn  into  our  road,  especially  if  they  happen  to  be 
ladies.  Now  that  Miss  Kob  is  away,  I  am  very  par 
ticular  about  knowing  beforehand  when  ladies  are 
coming  to  visit  me ;  and  when  you  see  any  wagon  or 
carriage  turn  in,  I  want  you  to  make  a  short  cut  across 
the  fields,  and  let  me  know  it,  and  I  will  give  you  a 
quarter  of  a  dollar  every  time  you  do  so."  This  was 
a  very  pleasant  job  of  work  for  the  meditative  Israel. 
He  was  not  very  fond  of  grubbing,  but  he  earned  the 

383 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

greater  part  of  his  ten  dollars  a  month  and  rations  by 
sitting  on  the  fence,  smoking  a  corn-cob  pipe,  and 
attending  to  the  second  division  of  the  work  which 
his  employer  had  set  him  to  do. 

Lawrence  Croft  was  in  New  York  at  this  time,  a 
very  busy  man,  arranging  his  affairs  in  that  city  so  , 
that  they  would  not  need  his  personal  attention  for 
some  time  to  come;  he  sublet,  for  the  remainder  of 
his  lease,  the  suite  of  bachelor  apartments  he  had  oc 
cupied,  and  he  stored  his  furniture  and  books.  One 
might  have  imagined  that  he  was  taking  in  all  pos 
sible  sails,  close  reefing  the  others,  battening  down 
the  hatches,  and  preparing  to  run  before  a  storm  ;  and 
yet  his  demeanor  did  not  indicate  that  he  expected 
any  violent  commotion  of  the  elements.  On  the  con 
trary,  his  friends  and  acquaintances  thought  him  par 
ticularly  blithe  and  gay.  He  told  them  he  was  going 
to  be  married. 

"  To  that  Virginia  lady,  I  suppose,"  said  one.  "  I 
remember  her  very  well,  and  consider  you  fortunate." 

"  I  don't  think  you  ever  met  her,"  said  Mr.  Croft. 
"  She  is  a  Miss  Peyton,  from  King  Thomas  County." 

"  Ah ! "  remarked  his  interlocutor. 

Lawrence  walked  to  the  window  of  the  club-room, 
and  stood  there,  slowly  puffing  his  cigar.  Had  any 
body  met  this  one?  he  thought.  He  knew  she  had 
seen  but  little  company  during  her  father's  life,  but 
was  it  likely  that  any  of  his  acquaintances  had  had 
business  at  Candy's  Information  Shop?  As  this  idea 
came  into  his  mind,  there  seemed  to  be  something 
unpleasant  in  the  taste  of  his  cigar,  and  he  threw  it 
into  the  fire.  A  few  turns,  however,  up  and  down  the 
now  almost  deserted  rooms  restored  his  tone.  He 

as* 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

lighted  another  cigar ;  and  now  there  came  up  before 
him  a  vision  of  the  girl  who,  from  loyalty  to  her  dead 
father,  preferred  to  sit  all  day  behind  Candy's  money- 
desk  rather  than  go  to  a  relative  who  had  not  been 
his  friend.  And  then  he  saw  the  young  girl  who  took 
up  so  courageously  the  cause  of  one  of  her  own  blood 
—the  boy  cousin  of  her  childhood ;  and  with  a  lover's 
pride,  Lawrence  thought  of  the  dash,  the  spirit,  and 
the  bravery  with  which  she  had  done  it. 

"  By  George  ! "  he  said  to  himself,  his  eyes  sparkling 
and  his  step  quickening,  "  she  has  more  in  her  than  all 
the  rest  of  them  put  together ! " 

Who  were  included  in  "  the  rest  of  them  "  Lawrence 
was  not  prepared  just  then  to  say,  but  the  expression 
was  intended  to  have  a  very  wide  range. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  December  when  Law 
rence  paid  another  visit  to  Mrs.  Keswick's  house. 
The  day  was  cold  but  clear,  and  as  he  drove  up  to  the 
outer  gate,  he  saw  the  old  lady  returning  from  a  walk 
to  Hewlett's.  She  stepped  along  briskly,  and  was  in 
a  very  good  humor,  for  she  had  just  posted  a  carefully 
concocted  letter  to  Mr.  Brandon,  in  which  she  had 
expatiated,  in  her  peculiar  style,  on  the  pleasure  which 
she  expected  from  an  early  visit  to  Midbranch.  She 
had  not  the  slightest  idea  of  going  there  at  present, 
but  she  thought  it  quite  time  to  freshen  up  the  old 
gentleman's  anticipations. 

Descending  from  his  carriage  to  meet  her,  Lawrence 
was  very  warmly  greeted,  and  the  two  went  up  to  the 
house  together. 

"I  expect  the  late  Mrs.  Null  will  be  very  glad  to 
see  you,"  said  Mrs.  Keswick.  "  I  think  she  has  burnt 
up  all  her  widow's  weeds." 

385 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  You  should  be  very  much  obliged  to  your  niece," 
said  Mr.  Croft,  "  for  so  delicately  ridding  you  of  that 
dreadful  fertilizer  man." 

"  Humph  ! "  said  the  old  lady.  "  She  cheated  me 
out  of  the  pleasure  of  telling  him  what  I  thought  of 
him,  and  I  shall  never  forgive  her  for  that." 

As  Lawrence  and  Annie  sat  together  in  the  parlor 
that  evening,  he  told  her  what  he  had  been  doing  in 
New  York,  and  this  brought  to  her  lips  a  question 
which  she  was  very  anxious  to  have  answered.  She 
knew  that  Lawrence  was  rich ;  that  his  methods  of 
life  and  thought  made  him  a  man  of  the  cities ;  and 
she  felt  quite  certain  that  the  position  to  which  he 
would  conduct  her  was  that  of  the  mistress  of  a  hand 
some  town  house,  and  the  wife  of  a  man  of  society. 
She  liked  handsome  town  houses,  and  she  was  sure  she 
would  like  society ;  but  it  would  all  be  very  new  and 
strange  to  her,  and  although  she  was  a  brave  girl  at 
heart,  she  shrank  from  making  such  a  plunge  as  this. 

"How  are  we  going  to  live?"  repeated  Lawrence. 
"  That,  of  course,  is  to  be  as  you  shall  choose ;  but  I 
have  a  plan  to  propose  to  you,  and  I  want  very  much 
to  hear  what  you  think  about  it.  And  the  plan  is 
that  we  shall  not  live  anywhere  for  a  year  or  two,  but 
wander,  fancy-free,  over  as  much  of  the  world  as 
pleases  us,  and  then  decide  where  we  shall  settle 
down,  and  how  we  shall  like  to  do  it." 

If  Annie's  answer  had  been  expressed  in  words,  it 
might  have  been  given  here.  It  may  be  said,  however, 
that  it  was  very  quick,  very  affirmative,  and,  in  more 
ways  than  one,  highly  satisfactory  to  Lawrence. 

"Is  it  London,  and  a  landlady,  and  tea?"  she 
presently  asked. 

386 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"  Yes,  it  is  that,"  lie  said. 

"  Is  it  the  shops  on  the  Boulevards  ?  " 

"  Yes/'  said  Lawrence. 

"And  the  Appian  Way?  and  the  island  of  Capri  1 
and  snow  mountains  in  the  distance  f  "  she  asked. 

"  In  their  turn,  most  certainly,"  said  her  lover,  "  and 
it  shall  be  the  midnight  sun,  and  the  Nile,  if  you  like." 

"Freddy,"  exclaimed  the  late  Mrs.  Null,  "I  thank 
thee  for  what  thou  hast  given  me  ! "  And  sne  clasped 
the  hand  of  Lawrence  in  both  her  own. 


387 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

THE  marriage  of  Junius  Keswick  and  Koberta  March 
was  appointed  for  the  15th  of  January,  and  Mr. 
Brandon  had  arranged  to  be  in  New  York  a  few  days 
before  the  event.  He  intended,  however,  to  leave 
Midbranch  soon  after  the  first  of  the  year,  and  to 
spend  a  week  with  some  of  his  friends  in  Richmond. 

It  was  on  the  afternoon  of  New  Year's  Day,  and 
Mr.  Brandon  was  sitting  in  his  library  with  Colonel 
Pinckney  Macon,  an  elderly  gentleman  of  social  habits 
and  genial  temper  whom  Mr.  Brandon  had  invited  to 
Midbranch  to  spend  the  holidays,  and  who  was  after 
wards  to  be  his  travelling  companion  as  far  as  Rich 
mond.  The  two  had  had  a  very  good  dinner,  and 
were  now  sitting  before  the  fire  smoking  their  pipes, 
and  paying  occasional  attention  to  two  tumblers  of 
egg-nog  which  stood  on  a  small  table  between  them. 
They  were  telling  anecdotes  of  olden  times,  and  were 
in  very  good  humor  indeed,  when  a  servant  came  in 
with  a  note  which  had  just  been  brought  for  Mr. 
Brandon.  The  old  gentleman  took  the  missive,  and 
put  on  his  eyeglasses  j  but  the  moment  he  read  the 
address,  he  let  his  hand  fall  on  his  knee,  and  gave  vent 
to  an  angry  ejaculation. 

"It's  from  that  rabid  old  witch,  the  widow  Kes- 
388 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

wick  ! "  he  exclaimed.  "  I've  a  great  mind  to  throw  it 
into  the  fire  without  reading  it." 

"Don't  do  that!"  cried  Colonel  Macon.  "It  is  a 
New  Year  present  she  is  sending  you.  Eead  it,  sir ; 
read  it,  by  all  means." 

Mr.  Brandon  had  given  his  friend  an  account  of 
his  unexampled  and  astounding  persecutions  by  the 
widow  Keswick,  and  the  old  colonel  had  been  much 
interested  thereby,  and  it  would  have  greatly  grieved 
his  soul  not  to  become  acquainted  with  this  new 
feature  of  the  affair.  "  Kead  it,  sir,"  he  cried ;  "  I 
would  like  to  know  what  sort  of  New  Year  congratu 
lations  she  offers  you." 

"  Congratulations,  indeed !  "  said  Mr.  Brandon,  "  you 
needn't  expect  anything  of  that  kind."  But  he  opened 
the  note,  and,  turning  so  that  he  could  get  a  good 
light  upon  it,  began  to  read  aloud  as  follows : 

"MY  DEAREST  EGBERT," 

"Confound  it,  sir!"  exclaimed  the  reader,  "did 
you  ever  hear  of  such  a  piece  of  impertinence  as 
that?" 

Colonel  Pinckney  Macon  leaned  back  in  his  chair 
and  laughed  aloud.  "It  is  impertinent,"  he  cried, 
"but  it's  confoundedly  jolly !  Go  on,  sir.  Go  on,  I 
beg  of  you." 

Mr.  Brandon  continued— 

"It  is  not  for  me  to  suggest  anything  of  the  kind,  but 
I  write  this  note  simply  to  ask  you  what  you  would  think 
of  a  triple  wedding  ?  There  would  certainly  be  some 
thing  very  touching  about  it,  and  it  would  be  very  satis 
factory  and  comforting,  I  am  sure,  to  our  nieces  and  their 
husbands  to  know  that  they  were  not  leaving  either  of 

389 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

us  to  a  lonely  life.    Would  we  not  make  three  happy  pairs, 
dear  Robert  ?    Remember,  I  do  not  propose  this;  I  only 
lay  it  before  your  kindly  and  affectionate  heart. 
"Your  own 

"MARTHA  ANN  KESWICK." 

Colonel  Macon,  who,  with  much  difficulty  and  red 
ness  of  face,  had  restrained  himself  during  the  reading 
of  this  note,  now  burst  into  a  shout  of  laughter,  while 
Mr.  Brandon  sprang  to  his  feet,  and,  crumpling  the 
note  in  his  hand,  threw  it  into  the  fire ;  and  then, 
turning  around,  he  exclaimed :  "  Did  the  world  ever 
hear  anything  like  that !  Triple  wedding,  indeed ! 
Does  the  pestiferous  old  shrew  imagine  that  anything 
in  this  world  would  induce  me  to  marry  her?" 

"Why,  my  dear  sir,"  cried  Colonel  Macon,  "of 
course  she  don't.  I  know  the  widow  Keswick  as 
well  as  you  do.  She  wouldn't  marry  you  to  save  your 
soul,  sir.  All  she  wants  to  do  is  to  worry  and  perse 
cute  you,  and  to  torment  your  senses  out  of  you,  in 
revenge  for  your  having  got  the  better  of  her.  Now, 
take  my  advice,  sir,  and  don't  let  her  do  it." 

"  I'd  like  to  know  how  I  am  going  to  hinder  her," 
said  Mr.  Brandon. 

"  Hinder  her  ! "  exclaimed  Colonel  Macon.  "  Noth 
ing  easier  in  this  world,  sir !  Just  you  turn  right 
square  round  and  face  her,  sir,  and  you'll  see  that 
she'll  stop  short,  sir;  and,  what's  more,  she'll  run, 
sir ! " 

"How  am  I  to  face  her?"  asked  Mr.  Brandon.  "I 
have  faced  her,  and  I  assure  you,  sir,  she  didn't  run." 

"  That  was  because  you  did  not  go  to  work  in  the 
right  way,"  said  the  colonel.  "  Now,  if  I  were  in  your 
place,  sir,  this  is  what  I  would  do :  I'd  turn  on  her 

390 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

and  I'd  scare  her  out  of  all  the  wits  she  has  left.  Fd 
say  to  her :  *  Madam,  I  think  your  proposition  is  an 
excellent  one.  I  am  ready  to  marry  you  to-day,  or, 
at  the  very  latest,  to-morrow  morning.  I'll  come  to 
your  house,  and  bring  a  clergyman  and  some  of  my 
friends.  Don't  let  there  be  the  least  delay,  for  I  desire 
to  start  immediately  for  New  York,  and  to  take  you 
with  me.'  Now,  sir,  a  note  like  that  would  frighten 
that  old  woman  so  that  she  would  leave  her  house, 
and  wouldn't  come  back  for  six  weeks ;  and  the  letter 
you  have  just  burnt  would  be  the  last  attack  she 
would  make  on  you.  Now,  sir,  that  is  what  I  would 
do  if  I  were  in  your  place." 

Mr.  Brandon  sat  down,  drained  his  tumbler  of  egg- 
nog,  and  began  to  think  of  what  his  friend  had  said. 
And  as  he  thought  of  it,  the  conviction  forced  itself 
upon  him  that  this  idea  of  Colonel  Macon's  was  a  good 
one— in  fact,  a  splendid  one.  Now  that  he  came  to 
look  upon  the  matter  more  clearly  than  he  had  done 
before,  he  saw  that  this  persecution  on  the  part  of  the 
widow  Keswick  was  not  only  base,  but  cowardly.  He 
had  been  entirely  too  yielding,  had  given  way  too 
much.  Yes,  he  would  face  her  !  By  George,  that  was 
a  royal  idea !  He  would  turn  round  and  make  a  dash 
at  her,  and  scare  her  out  of  her  five  senses. 

Pens,  ink,  and  paper  were  brought  out:  more 
egg-nog  was  ordered;  and  Mr.  Brandon,  aided  and 
abetted  by  Colonel  Macon,  wrote  a  letter  to  Mrs. 
Keswick. 

This  letter  took  a  long  time  to  write,  and  was  very 
carefully  constructed.  With  outstretched  hands,  Mr. 
Brandon  met  the  old  lady  on  the  very  threshold  of  her 
proposition.  He  stated  that  nothing  would  please  him 

391 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

better  than  an  immediate  wedding,  and  that  he  would 
have  proposed  it  himself  had  he  not  feared  that  the 
lady  would  consider  him  too  importunate.  (This  ex 
pression  was  suggested  by  Colonel  Macon.)  In  order 
that  they  might  lose  no  time  in  making  themselves 
happy,  Mr.  Brandon  proposed  that  the  marriage 
should  take  place  in  a  week,  and  that  the  ceremony 
should  be  performed  in  Richmond.  (The  colonel 
wished  him  to  say  that  he  would  immediately  go  to 
her  house  for  the  purpose,  but  Mr.  Brandon  would  not 
consent  to  write  this.  He  was  afraid  that  the  widow 
would  sit  at  her  front  door  with  a  shot-gun  and  wait 
for  him,  and  that  some  damage  might  thereby  come 
to  an  unwary  neighbor.)  Each  of  them  had  many  old 
friends  in  Richmond,  and  it  would  be  very  pleasant  to 
be  married  there.  He  intended  to  start  for  that  city 
in  a  day  or  two,  and  he  would  be  rejoiced  to  meet  her 
at  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  instant, 
in  the  corridor  or  covered  bridge  connecting  the  Ex 
change  and  Ballard  hotels,  and  there  arrange  all  the 
details  for  an  immediate  marriage.  The  letter  closed 
with  an  earnest  hope  that  she  would  accede  to  this 
proposed  plan,  which  would  so  soon  make  them  the 
happiest  couple  upon  earth,  and  was  signed  "Your 
devoted  Robert." 

"  By  which  I  mean,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  "  that  I  am 
devoted  to  her  destruction." 

The  letter  was  read  over  by  Colonel  Macon,  and 
highly  approved  by  him.  "If  you  had  met  that 
woman,  sir,  when  she  first  came  to  you,"  he  said  to 
Mr.  Brandon,  "with  the  spirit  that  is  shown  in  this 
letter,  you  would  have  put  a  shiver  through  her,  sir, 
that  would  have  shaken  the  bones  out  of  her  umbrella, 

392 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

and  she  would  have  cut  and  run,  sir,  before  you 
knew  it." 

The  messenger  from  Hewlett's  was  kept  at  Mid- 
branch  all  night,  and  the  next  morning  he  was  sent 
back  with  Mr.  Brandon's  note.  Two  days  afterwards 
Colonel  Macon  and  Mr.  Brandon  started  for  Kichmond, 
and  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours  they  were  comfort 
ably  sipping  their  "  peach  and  honey  "  at  the  Exchange 
and  Ballard's. 

The  next  day  was  most  enjoy  ably  spent  with  a  number 
of  old  friends  j  and  in  reminiscences  of  the  past  war, 
and  in  discussions  of  the  coming  political  campaign,  Mr. 
Brandon  had  thrown  off  every  sign  of  the  annoyance 
and  persecution  to  which  he  had  lately  been  subjected. 

"  By  George,  sir ! "  said  Colonel  Macon  to  him,  the 
next  morning,  "  do  you  know  that  you  are  a  most  un 
trustworthy  and  perfidious  man?" 

"  Sir ! "  exclaimed  Mr.  Brandon,  "  what  do  you 
mean?" 

"I  mean,"  replied  Colonel  Pinckney  Macon,  with 
much  dignity,  "that  you  promised  at  eleven  o'clock 
to-day  to  meet  a  lady  in  the  corridor  connecting  these 
two  hotels.  It  wants  three  minutes  of  that  time  now, 
sir,  and  here  you  are  reading  the  l  Despatch '  as  if  you 
never  made  a  promise  in  your  life." 

"I  declare,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  rising,  "my  conduct 
is  indefensible ;  but  I  am  going  to  my  room,  and,  on 
my  way,  will  keep  my  part  of  the  contract." 

"  I  will  go  with  you,"  said  the  colonel. 

Together  they  mounted  the  stairs  and  approached 
the  corridor ;  and  as  they  opened  its  glass  doors  they 
saw,  sitting  in  a  chair  on  one  side  of  the  passage,  the 
widow  Keswick. 

393 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

If  Mr.  Brandon  had  not  been  caught  by  his  friend 
he  would  have  fallen  over  backward.  Regaining  an 
upright  position,  he  made  a  frantic  turn  as  if  he  would 
fly ;  but  he  was  not  quick  enough ;  Mrs.  Keswick  had 
him  by  the  arm. 

"  Robert ! "  she  exclaimed.  "  I  knew  how  true  and 
faithful  you  would  be.  It  has  just  struck  eleven. 
How  do  you  do,  Colonel  Macon?  "  And  she  extended 
her  hand. 

There  was  no  one  in  the  corridor  at  the  time  but 
these  three ;  but  the  place  was  much  used  as  a  passage 
way,  and  Colonel  Macon,  who  was  very  pale,  but  still 
retained  his  presence  of  mind,  knew  well  that  if  any 
one  were  to  come  along  at  this  moment,  it  would  be 
decidedly  unpleasant,  not  only  for  his  friend,  but  him 
self.  "I  am  glad  to  meet  you  again,  Mrs.  Keswick," 
he  said.  "  Let  us  go  into  one  of  the  parlors.  It  will 
be  more  comfortable." 

"  How  kind,"  murmured  Mrs.  Keswick,  as  she  clung 
to  the  arm  of  Mr.  Brandon,  "  for  you  to  bring  our  good 
friend,  Colonel  Macon !  " 

They  went  into  a  parlor,  which  was  empty,  and 
where  they  were  not  likely  to  be  disturbed.  Mr. 
Brandon  walked  there  without  saying  a  word.  His 
face  was  as  pallid  as  its  well-seasoned  color  would 
allow,  and  he  looked  straight  before  him  with  an  air 
which  seemed  to  indicate  that  he  was  trying  to  re 
member  something  terrible,  or  else  trying  to  forget 
it,  and  that  he  himself  did  not  know  which  it  was. 

Colonel  Macon  did  not  stay  long  in  the  parlor. 
There  was  that  in  the  air  of  Mrs.  Keswick  which 
made  him  understand  that  there  were  other  places 
in  Richmond  where  he  would  be  much  more  welcome 

394 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

than  in  that  room.  He  went  down  into  the  large 
hall  where  the  gentlemen  generally  congregate,  and 
there,  in  great  distress  of  mind,  he  paced  up  and  down 
the  marble  floor,  exchanging  nothing  but  the  briefest 
salutations  and  answers  with  the  acquaintances  he 
occasionally  encountered.  The  clerk,  behind  his 
desk  at  one  side  of  the  hall,  had  seen  men  walking  up 
and  down  in  that  way,  and  he  thought  that  the  colonel 
had  probably  been  speculating  in  tobacco  or  wheat ; 
but  he  knew  he  was  good  for  the  amount  of  his  bill, 
and  he  retained  his  placidity. 

In  about  half  an  hour,  there  came  down  the  stairs 
at  one  end  of  the  hall  an  elderly  person  who  some 
what  resembled  Mr.  Brandon  of  Midbranch.  The 
clothes  and  the  hat  were  the  same  that  that  gentle 
man  wore,  and  the  same  heavy  gold  chain  with  dan 
gling  seal-rings  hung  across  his  ample  waistcoat ;  but 
there  was  a  general  air  of  haggardness  and  stoop 
about  him  which  did  not  in  the  least  suggest  the 
upright  and  portly  gentleman  who  had  written  his 
name  in  the  hotel  register  the  day  before  yesterday. 

Colonel  Macon  made  five  strides  towards  him,  and 
seized  his  hand.  "  What,"  said  he,  "  how—  ?  " 

Mr.  Brandon  did  not  look  at  him ;  he  let  his  eyes 
fall  where  they  chose,— it  mattered  not  to  him  what 
they  gazed  upon,— and  in  a  low  voice  he  said :  "It  is 
all  over." 

"  Over ! "  repeated  the  colonel. 

Mr.  Brandon  put  a  feeble  hand  on  his  friend's  arm, 
and  together  they  walked  into  the  reading-room, 
where  they  sat  down  in  a  corner. 

"Have  you  settled  it, then?"  asked  Colonel  Macon, 
with  great  anxiety.  "  Is  she  gone  ? ?; 

395 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

"It  is  settled,"  said  Mr.  Brandon.  "We  are  to  be 
married." 

"  Married ! "  cried  Colonel  Macon,  springing  to  his 
feet.  "Great  heavens,  man !  What  do  you  mean?" 

Not  very  fluently,  and  in  sentences  with  a  very  few 
words  in  each  of  them,  but  words  that  sank  like  hot 
coals  into  the  soul  of  his  hearer,  Mr.  Brandon  explained 
what  he  meant.  It  had  been  of  no  use,  he  said,  to  try 
to  get  out  of  it ;  the  old  woman  had  him  with  the  grip 
of  a  vise.  That  letter  had  done  it  all.  He  ought  to 
have  known  that  she  was  not  to  be  frightened.  But  it 
was  needless  to  talk  about  that.  It  was  all  over  now, 
and  he  was  as  much  bound  to  her  as  if  he  had  promised 
before  a  magistrate. 

"  But  you  don't  mean  to  say,"  exclaimed  the  colonel, 
in  a  voice  of  anguish,  "  that  you  are  really  going  to 
marry  her?" 

"  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  solemnly,  "  there  is  no  way 
to  get  out  of  it.  If  you  think  there  is,  you  don't  know 
the  woman." 

"I  would  have  died  first,"  said  the  colonel.  "I 
never  would  have  submitted  to  her ! " 

"  I  did  not  submit,"  replied  Mr.  Brandon.  "  That 
was  done  when  the  letter  was  written.  I  roused  my 
self,  and  I  said  everything  I  could  say ;  but  it  was  all 
useless :  she  held  me  to  my  promise.  I  told  her  I 
would  fly  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  rather  than  marry 
her,  and  then,  sir,  she  threatened  me  with  a  prosecu 
tion  for  breach  of  promise ;  and  think  of  the  disgrace 
that  that  would  bring  upon  me— upon  my  family 
name,  and  on  my  niece  and  her  young  husband !  It 
was  a  mistake,  sir,  to  suppose  that  she  merely  wished 
to  persecute  me.  She  wished  to  marry  me,  and  she  is 

396 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

going  to  do  it."  The  colonel  bowed  his  face  upon  his 
hands  and  groaned.  Mr.  Brandon  looked  at  him  with 
a  dim  compassion  in  his  eyes.  "  Do  not  reproach  your 
self,  sir,"  he  said.  '  We  thought  we  were  acting  for 
the  best." 

But  little  more  was  said,  and  two  crushed  old  gen 
tlemen  retired  to  their  rooms. 

In  the  days  of  her  youth  Mrs  Keswick  had  been 
very  well  known  in  Eichmond,  and  there  were  a  good 
many  elderly  ladies  and  gentlemen  now  living  in  that 
city  who  remembered  her  as  a  handsome,  sparkling, 
and  somewhat  eccentric  young  woman,  and  who  had 
since  heard  of  her  as  a  decidedly  eccentric  old  one. 
Mr.  Brandon  also  had  a  large  circle  of  friends  and 
acquaintances  in  the  city.  And  when  it  became  known 
that  these  two  elderly  persons  were  to  be  married— and 
the  news  began  to  spread  shortly  after  Mrs.  Keswick 
reached  the  house  of  the  friend  with  whom  she  was 
staying— it  excited  a  great  deal  of  excusable  interest. 

Mrs.  Keswick,  according  to  her  ordinary  methods  of 
action,  took  all  the  arrangements  into  her  own  hands. 
She  appointed  the  wedding  for  the  8th  of  January, 
in  order  that  the  happy  pair  might  go  to  New  York 
and  be  present  at  the  nuptials  of  Junius  and  Roberta. 
Mr.  Brandon  had  thought  of  writing  to  Junius,  in  the 
hope  that  the  young  man  might  do  something  to  avert 
his  fate ;  but  remembering  how  utterly  unable  Junius 
had  always  been  to  move  his  aunt  one  inch,  this  way 
or  that,  he  did  not  believe  that  he  could  be  of  any 
service  in  this  case,  in  which  all  the  energies  of  her 
mind  were  evidently  engaged,  and  he  readily  con 
sented  that  she  should  attend  to  all  the  correspond 
ence.  It  would,  indeed,  have  been  too  hard  for  him 

397 


THE  LATE  MRS.  NULL 

to  break  the  direful  truth  to  his  niece  and  Junius. 
He  ventured  to  suggest  that  Miss  Peyton  be  sent  for, 
having  a  faint  hope  that  he  might  in  some  manner 
lean  upon  her  j  but  Mrs.  Keswick  informed  him  that 
her  niece  must  stay  at  home  to  take  charge  of  the 
place.  There  were  two  women  in  the  house  who  were 
busy  sewing  for  her,  and  it  would  be  impossible  for  her 
to  come  to  Richmond. 

Her  correspondence  kept  the  widow  Keswick  very 
busy.  She  decided  that  she  would  be  married  in  a 
church  which  she  used  to  attend  in  her  youth ;  and  to 
all  of  her  old  friends,  and  to  all  those  of  Mr.  Brandon 
whose  names  she  could  learn  by  diligent  inquiry,  in 
vitations  were  sent  to  attend  the  ceremony;  but  no 
one  outside  of  Richmond  was  invited. 

The  old  lady  did  not  come  to  the  city  with  a  purple 
sunbonnet  and  a  big  umbrella.  She  wore  her  best 
bonnet,  which  had  been  used  for  church-going  pur 
poses  for  many  years,  and  arrayed  herself  in  a  travelling 
suit  which  was  of  excellent  material,  although  of  most 
antiquated  fashion.  She  discussed  very  freely  with 
her  friends  the  arrangements  she  had  made,  and  pro 
tuberant  candor  being  at  times  one  of  her  most  notice 
able  characteristics,  she  did  not  leave  it  altogether  to 
others  to  say  that  the  match  she  was  about  to  make 
was  a  most  remarkably  good  one.  For  years  it  had 
been  a  hard  struggle  for  her  to  keep  up  the  Keswick 
farm,  but  now  she  had  fought  a  battle  and  won  a 
victory  which  ought  to  make  her  comfortable  and 
satisfied  for  the  rest  of  her  life.  If  Mr.  Brandon's 
family  had  taken  a  great  deal  from  her,  she  would 
more  than  repay  herself  by  appropriating  the  old 
gentleman,  together  with  his  possessions. 

398 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

After  the  depression  following  the  first  shock,  Mr. 
Brandon  endeavored  to  stiffen  himself.  There  was  a 
great  deal  of  pride  in  him,  and  if  he  were  obliged  to  go 
to  the  altar,  he  did  not  wish  his  old  friends  to  suppose 
that  he  was  going  there  to  be  sacrificed.  He  had 
brought  this  dreadful  thing  upon  himself,  but  he 
would  try  to  stand  up  like  a  man  and  bear  it ;  and, 
after  all,  it  might  not  be  for  long :  the  widow  Keswick 
was  a  good  deal  older  than  he  was.  Other  thoughts 
occasionally  came  to  comfort  him  :  she  could  not  make 
him  continually  live  with  her,  and  he  had  plans  for 
visits  to  Eichmond,  and  even  to  New  York;  and, 
better  than  that,  she  might  want  to  spend  a  good  deal 
of  time  at  her  own  farm. 

"  For  the  sake  of  my  name  and  my  niece,"  he  said 
to  himself,  "  I  must  bear  it  like  a  man." 

And,  in  answer  to  an  earnest  adjuration,  Colonel 
Pinckney  Macon  solemnly  promised  that  he  would 
never  reveal,  to  man  or  woman,  that  his  friend  did 
not  marry  the  widow  Keswick  entirely  of  his  own 
wish  and  accord. 

It  was  the  desire  of  Mrs.  Keswick  that  the  marriage, 
although  conducted  in  church,  should  be  very  simple 
in  its  arrangements.  There  would  be  no  bridesmaids 
or  groomsmen;  no  flowers;  no  breakfast;  and  the 
couple  would  be  dressed  in  travelling  costume.  The 
friends  of  the  old  lady  persuaded  her  to  make  con 
siderable  changes  in  her  attire,  and  a  costume  was 
speedily  prepared,  which,  while  it  suggested  the  fash 
ions  of  the  present  day,  was  also  calculated  to  recall 
reminiscences  of  those  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 
This  simplicity  was  the  only  thing  connected  with  the 
affair  which  satisfied  Mr.  Brandon,  and  he  would  have 

399 


THE  LATE   MRS.  NULL 

been  glad  to  have  the  marriage  entirely  private,  with 
no  more  witnesses  than  the  law  demanded.  But  to 
this  Mrs.  Keswick  would  not  consent.  She  wanted  to 
have  her  former  friends  about  her.  Accordingly,  the 
church  was  pretty  well  filled  with  old  colonels,  old 
majors,  old  generals,  and  old  judges,  with  their  wives 
and  their  sisters,  and,  in  a  few  cases,  their  daughters. 
All  the  elderly  people  in  Richmond  who,  in  the  days 
of  their  youth,  had  known  the  gay  Miss  Matty  Petti- 
grew  and  the  handsome  Bob  Brandon  felt  a  certain 
rejuvenation  of  spirit  as  they  went  to  the  wedding  of 
the  couple  who  had  once  been  these  two. 

The  old  lady  looked  full  of  life  and  vigor,  and,  de 
spite  the  circumstances,  Mr.  Brandon  preserved  a  good 
deal  of  his  usual  manly  deportment.  But  when,  in 
the  course  of  the  marriage  service,  the  clergyman 
came  to  the  question  in  which  the  bridegroom  was 
asked  if  he  would  have  this  woman  to  be  his  wedded 
wife,  to  love  and  keep  her  for  the  rest  of  their  lives, 
the  answer,  "  I  will,"  came  forth  in  a  feeble  tone,  which 
was  not  wholly  divested  of  a  tinge  of  despondency. 

With  the  lady  it  was  quite  otherwise.  When  the 
like  question  was  put  to  her,  she  stepped  back,  and  in 
a  loud,  clear  voice  exclaimed  :  "  Not  I !  Marry  that 
man  there?"  she  continued  in  a  higher  tone,  and 
pointing  her  finger  at  the  astounded  Mr.  Brandon. 
"  Not  for  the  world,  sir !  Before  he  was  born,  his 
family  defrauded  and  despoiled  my  people,  and  as 
soon  as  he  took  affairs  into  his  own  hands,  he  continued 
the  villainous  law  robberies  until  we  are  poor  and  he 
is  rich ;  and,  not  content  with  that,  he  basely  wrecks 
and  destroys  the  plans  I  had  made  for  the  comfort  of 
my  old  age,  in  order  that  his  paltry  purposes  may  be 

400 


THE   LATE  MRS.  NULL 

carried  out.  After  all  that,  does  anybody  here  suppose 
that  I  would  take  him  for  a  husband?  Marry  him ! 
Not  I ! "  And,  with  these  words,  the  old  lady  turned 
her  back  on  the  clergyman  and  walked  rapidly  down 
the  centre  aisle  until  she  reached  the  church  door. 
There  she  stopped,  and  turning  towards  the  stupefied 
assemblage,  she  snapped  her  bony  fingers  in  the  air, 
and  exclaimed :  "  Now,  Mr.  Eobert  Brandon  of  Mid- 
branch,  our  account  is  balanced." 

She  then  went  out  of  the  door,  and  took  a  street-cai 
for  the  train  that  would  carry  her  to  her  home. 


401 


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LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-50m-8,'69(N831s8)458-A-31/5 


N9  713711 


Stockton,   F.R. 

The   late  Mrs.  Null. 


PS2927 
L37 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


